The Next Obstacle
by robert3A-SN
Summary: After Ben finds out that Leslie may be running for office, the two must start figuring out how to preserve their relationship, and keep their secret, in the midst of her new career opportunity. Now finished just before the S4 premiere makes it a fantasy.
1. Ben's Decision

**Warning: Massive spoilers for "Lil Sebastian" and one of its cliffhangers, and some spoilers for "The Bubble"**

After all this time, it still amazed Ben Wyatt that every day in Pawnee still amazed him. For all of the wacky, insane things that happened here, everyone got through it and treated it like normal. One would think that with the citizens' poor heart conditions and cholesterol, they wouldn't be able to stand the madness every day- especially since it got madder pretty much every week.

Maybe that was the surest sign that Ben wasn't really a Pawnee man yet. Because if he was, he wouldn't have such a hard time staying upright and sane each day. Or perhaps he was already too insane to realize how nuts he was now. Either way, the point was that they could handle insanity better than he could.

But even they rarely went through what Ben had in these last 24 hours. Having a secret affair uncovered by your secret girlfriend's boss, having it discovered again by the maintenance man for a mini-horse's funeral, barely keeping said funeral going when they had to bribe the maintenance man….and then all but burning the most famous mustache in Pawnee off. All in all, it was only the fifth or sixth most frantic 24-hour period of the last year.

And even all that still couldn't quite top last week's new No. 1 of facing his secret girlfriend's mother- and then having her hit on him. And now that he had to be extra careful to avoid his secret girlfriend at work, he was sure the rest of the top five would have new entries soon enough.

When Ben thought about it like that, he almost wished he could eat all of Ron's ultra-fattening foods every day. At least that would be a less painful and quicker way to get a heart attack than this. He'd avoided one so far, but by the time it finally came, it was sure to be a doozy. Yet with his luck, it wouldn't come until two or three more years of secret dating.

It probably wouldn't need to be secret for that long, but if it could happen anywhere, it would be in Pawnee.

And since that heart attack would finally happen if he had to keep looking at Leslie from afar, he figured that was the right time to get some air.

He knew he should probably be thinking about those people Leslie had met with, and what they could have possibly said to her. But after the stress of these last 24 hours, Ben couldn't really deal with any more twists right now. Besides, Leslie would probably tell him later, whenever they were able to talk again.

For now, he could only handle thinking about the most recent threats to their relationship, and how they barely held them off. Only this time, they nearly turned Ron into a flaming pile of collateral damage, and nearly ruined the biggest funeral in town history. True, it was still a funeral for a mini-horse that Ben still didn't get, and probably wouldn't get before his own funeral. But he still had enough sense not to say that out loud, at least within 500 miles of Pawnee.

Yet this historically odd funeral still wasn't ruined. Leaving aside the additional death of Ron's eyebrows, it still went perfectly- at least as far as the other mourners knew. Once again, Leslie had fended off disaster, put on a great show, and would surely reap the benefits for it. Sure, Tom and Jean Ralphio's new so-called company handled some stuff too, but not like Leslie had to.

By now, Ben really had to stop doubting that these shenanigans would turn out for the best. Because no shenanigans could stop Leslie, especially when she had something big to protect like her job, her department, her funeral for her favorite unlikely town icon, and him. True, there was more of an asterisk to this victory, thanks to the torch mishap, and it was Ben who finally bailed them out against Leslie's mother last time. Yet that was a drop in the bucket compared to Leslie's other flawless wins, and the ones she'd probably have to make in the future.

But why should he have to make her do all that?

They'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks, and already they'd escaped disaster more times than he could count- or had the brain capacity to count right now. Even if they avoided each other at work, and limited their….special time to home, how long could that go on without another crisis? She was right in saying that this sort of thing wasn't sustainable- and if he ever wanted anything to sustain, it was this.

Yet thanks to Chris, there was no other way. He had to keep going through this series of wacky, hair raising events, until they were caught by someone who wasn't Ron, Ann, Leslie's mother, or a maintenance man. And then they would both be fired, and then there'd be no way that Leslie would want to stay with him. She could still be with the man who might wreck her beloved job, but not with the man who actually destroyed it.

For the three-millionth time, Ben groaned about how unfair it all was. Why did he have to finally find the most addictive relationship of his life, only to start it with this many mishaps? Why did they have to have such great jobs that they couldn't just give up?

Well, actually, only Leslie's job was great. His he could take or leave. He wouldn't have been capable of thinking that last year, but his priorities hadn't shifted last year. In fact, the only reason he hadn't already quit was because Leslie would be mad at him, and feel guilty over it. But it was better than losing his job and Leslie's all at once. Why couldn't he just be the one to get fired, since his indiscretion was much more scandalous?

Why couldn't he?

Now he was beginning to think things that Leslie would certainly yell at him for, if he said them out loud to her. But after the last week or two, it certainly looked a lot more appealing otherwise.

Despite all of the aggravation Chris had put him through, he was still a friend. Aside from this one issue, of all issues, he was a reasonable person, so it was possible for him to see the light. If he could just talk to him one on one, lay it all out there, and not leave until they had worked out a solution that would let Leslie keep her job, perhaps that was worth considering.

He couldn't do it now, and he probably couldn't do it tomorrow. But once all the dust and praise had settled from the funeral, Ben could actually work out something. Now that he wasn't going to spend as much work time with Leslie, he needed something to distract him. Planning out a way to talk to Chris, and making him see that Ben should be the only victim here, could fill a few days or so.

If he had to, he'd postpone an after-work date or two with Leslie, and come to Chris's house to work it out. It would be easier to spend several hours debating with Chris in his home than in his office, at the least. After he finally won Chris over, he could then clean out his office the next day, and spend the next week or so talking Leslie down. Eventually, he'd reach the part of her that wanted a real relationship with him, and would be relieved that it wouldn't destroy her job anymore. But given how big and formidable her selfless side was, it probably would take a full week.

Yet it would be better than a week of dealing with Leslie's mother, butt-dialing Ron, salvaging a nonsensical funeral, and having to agree to limit their time together at work. And it would certainly be better than actually limiting their time together at work. And even if Leslie stayed mad at her and at herself through it all, at least Ben could make some very public apologies.

Maybe this was how the madness was finally taking a toll on Ben. But maybe it was time to redefine what madness really meant. Even by Pawnee standards, madness was endangering what was already his best ever relationship- one that hadn't even gone public yet- for a mere assistant city manager job. A job that wasn't even the main one he wanted to save right now. Besides, if he could talk Chris into letting only him resign, and not let the reasons for it go public, he could return later on to some other government position that didn't compromise Leslie.

Heck, maybe if he did well enough, Chris would let him keep his job, and just make sure he didn't have to oversee the parks department. That would be the most logical solution- maybe so much so that he should have thought of it months and months ago. But if filling that plot hole worked, he wouldn't care how long it took to think of it.

Still, he'd have to say a lot of things to Chris before he could get that far. That's why he needed a few days to actually plan out every talking point. Since he couldn't get help from Leslie, and wouldn't have it if he did tell her, it might take a while longer. Yet he could still do a few things without Leslie, even if it was only a few things now.

But if this worked, Ben could reduce that list to zero sooner than he dreamed. And with that in mind, he had his decision in place.

He'd officially excuse himself from the party, and tell Leslie he was too worn out to spend any after work time. If he could block out Andy and April replaying "5,000 Candles In The Wind" back home, he could have half his talking points set by the time he went to sleep.

In fact, Ben was already dreaming up a few of them, as he started to walk down the halls on his way back to the party. But his train of thought was interrupted when he heard some footsteps approaching.

Ben stopped to see that the same people who met with Leslie were coming down the hall, having now left the party. But again, that new development could be saved for another time. As such, he stepped to the left to give them room to pass by. Yet it wasn't like they would notice, since at least one of the men was talking on a cell phone right now.

"Knope said yes, sir. Now we just have to figure out what council seat we should run her for. No, she said there were no scandals to worry about. She at least sounded convincing, so maybe it won't be that destructive either way."

Once those words faded away, Ben suddenly had room to think about that one more twist.

The meeting, the smile from Leslie during that meeting, the smile she gave him afterwards that was now so clearly uncertain…..

Somehow, Ben was less shocked about what this meant, and more shocked that this wasn't the heart attack trigger.

Someone finally wanted Leslie to run for office, and she had said yes.

And now for the first time in months, Chris seemed like the smallest possible obstacle to everything.

Now they had political committees, election opponents, scandal-driven election coverage, and a relationship that could now destroy Leslie past the point of no return. Now Ben realized just how lucky he was to have Chris as an opponent instead.

But then Ben also realized how his plan to come clean with Chris couldn't remotely work now.

Even if he succeeded in every way possible with Chris, he still couldn't come forward as Leslie's boyfriend. Once he did that, every political operative possible would put together why he resigned, and how strange it was that he was with Leslie a short time later. He couldn't even resign, and then be with Leslie a few months later in public, because they'd still find some way to figure it out- especially if it was close to the election.

And even if he resigned, and kept everything a secret until after Leslie won the election, her new opponents in City Council would probably dig up the dirt to ruin her. And even if they didn't, her opponents for Mayor, or whatever higher office she'd then run for, would do it themselves later.

Either way, it was over. He had destroyed Leslie's rising career before it even got off the ground. Whether the election cycle exposed them in one month, six months or a year or two, it would happen at some point. And it would be uncovered by people who would wait until the worst possible moment to crush her with it. People who weren't Ben's friends, who wouldn't eventually listen to reason, and who wouldn't limit the damage just to Ben's career.

The only real way to save her was to stop seeing her altogether. But Ben knew that this could never be an option, since he just wasn't that selfless yet. Even Leslie couldn't make him that incredible.

The next most logical answer was to just keep it all a secret, as planned. But Ben had figured out that this couldn't work for much longer just a few minutes ago. And that was back when the consequences were just Leslie getting fired.

Having this stay a secret for this long already defied all logic, and believability. But even long time secrets had to be exposed eventually. It just so happened that whenever this one did, it would now ensure that Leslie's entire political future, and not just her parks career, would be destroyed forever. And despite all that, Leslie apparently said yes to running anyway.

For the 13 millionth time, Ben cursed to himself about how unfair this whole mess was.

But for the first time, it led him to think about whether it was worth it at all.

There was now officially no good way out of this, and no chance left for Ben to take the fall alone. All the poor secrecy, madcap antics to keep their secret, and having people discover it all anyway…..this was going to be their lives from here on in. Even those rare moments of being able to enjoy time together would be much rarer, now that Leslie would have a campaign to work on.

Only Ben Wyatt could finally find the girl of his dreams, have to keep it a secret, and now have to keep it secret pretty much forever. And now, not even the dream of having an open, regular relationship was realistic anymore.

So what the hell was it all for? Just some kind of mad, twisted lark that was more about piling on obstacles than letting them be happy? What lousy, contrived way was that for this to work? What in God's name was the logic here?

And now that there was no chance for it to end well….what in God's name was the point, other than to make him the one to destroy Pawnee's future Mayor? Why didn't he just run away now, let Leslie fulfill her political destiny, and let Pawnee and America reap the benefits? Why not perform this one final, smart, act of mercy?

But then the unmerciful part of Ben's brain remembered the answers.

Because it remembered how conflicted Leslie's smile really was after that meeting.

Because it remembered that she actually said she wanted to be with him minutes earlier.

Because it could now remember how immensely proud he was of Leslie, now that he fully realized her dreams were coming true.

Because it remembered how unbelievable a Leslie Knope campaign would really be, especially up close.

Because it remembered that Ben wanted to be really up close to see it all.

And it now remembered those first two points, and how they signaled that in spite of it all, Leslie still wanted to be with him. In spite of the new pain, turmoil and guilt she was probably feeling right now.

With that, Ben was officially off the ledge, and back to an acceptable level of madness. But his insanity was small time, as it always was when compared to Pawnee and its citizens. Whatever he was going through, it was probably nothing, compared to what Leslie must be thinking right now.

This should have been the greatest moment of her life, and now it was being tainted because of…..this. So how could he turn away from her in her all-time greatest hour of need now? This was much more of her crisis than his, and he would not be the one to decide it one way or another.

Whatever she decided to do, he had to be there to hear it, and help her through it. And if she decided that he wasn't worth it after all…..he had no right to argue with her. But she would not decide after he got himself fired first. She might eventually stop blaming herself for that under normal circumstances, but she couldn't do that while working on a campaign.

Yet if she really did still want him, in spite of all these new risks…..what kind of monster would he be to not give her what she wanted? Or to resist what he really wanted more than ever now?

Once again, Ben allowed himself to revel that Leslie….his Leslie, had gotten her big break at last. As unrealistic as her big dreams for higher office seemed to him in the Mean Ben days, it was turning into reality now. And once she won this, and showed off her magic in the City Council, she'd probably be running this town in no time. Who could resist being a part of that, even a super secret part?

Ben couldn't ruin that for her. But if he tried to end things for her sake, a part of it would be ruined for her anyway. It was probably partway ruined already, so the thing to do was contain the damage. At the least, they had to talk about it and make a plan, and a far better one than they had in the last few weeks.

She hadn't come to him with any of this, and if he hadn't heard about it by accident, he might not have known for days or weeks. In any case, since they were distancing themselves in the workplace, their new rules wouldn't allow her to drop big bombshells like that here. That was definitely for the best, as she was probably so confused and conflicted now, she wouldn't know how to tell him. Therefore, he should at least let her figure out how to break the news, and let her decide how she wanted to handle it.

Leslie would certainly go to Ann first, and if anyone could help her sort things out, it would be her best friend. Since she was a full on Leslie/Ben supporter, she could certainly talk Leslie out of any new second thoughts about him. After getting that dose of Ann wisdom, she would be able to tell him the truth, and be more capable of addressing what it would mean for them.

Heck, now that Ben didn't have to plan for a talk with Chris, he could spend the next few days on ideas for this ordeal. Then if Leslie was still nervous, he could talk her down- although his ideas probably shouldn't seem too prepared.

But if Ben could talk himself down after these last few minutes, then he could talk down anyone, regardless of his ideas.

He shouldn't have felt relieved, since he was technically back where he started, only with much worse stakes. But Ben had already endured this much, and somehow managed to still be close to Leslie. After all that, this couldn't break them apart now- at least not without a little effort to stop it. He still wasn't entirely sure how hard Leslie would let herself fight to keep it, now that everything she ever wanted was it reach. Would she really risk all this just for him, no matter how unfair and rotten this choice was?

Even if she wouldn't, he couldn't go anywhere until she told him so herself. But unfortunately, he probably needed to go now, to start planning ahead for the coming battles.

So Ben finally took some much needed deep breaths, and headed back into the party. He quickly found Leslie standing by herself, and decided to just go over there, before he tried to study her face more than usual.

"Some night, huh?" Ben asked in the understatement of the year. "I think I should go start sleeping it off. So….I'll see you around tomorrow at work."

"Or not, since we might be too busy," Leslie said a bit quickly. But Ben chose to believe she was still trying to follow their new rules, which may or may not have been a good sign. "I need my sleep too, so if I'm too sleepy to drop by tomorrow, it just means I'm too sleepy."

"All right, I'll trust you on that," Ben said a split-second before he realized his poor choice of words. In the next split second, he saw a flicker of guilt in Leslie's eyes when he mentioned 'trust' Both of them knew why that was, even if Leslie didn't know why Ben knew.

But although Ben knew he made Leslie feel guiltier about keeping the meeting secret, he was also….strangely reassured. Although she regretted staying quiet, it showed that she still cared enough to spare him the unpleasant truth for a while longer. In spite of being handed the keys to her dreams, she wasn't just tossing him and what they had aside yet. Which meant she really might still be willing to keep him around. Which meant he might just care about him enough to risk it after all.

Now that he had a better idea for sure, the rest finally seemed manageable. That fact made the last few weeks manageable, so maybe it would do the same for the next several months too. And maybe was better than nothing at all. But it was certainly worse than that conflicted feeling he saw in Leslie's eyes, so he needed a better final word.

"That was an amazing job today. Any praise you get for this is well deserved, and way way overdue." Maybe that still hinted too strongly at what had happened several minutes ago. But Ben figured he framed it in such a way that Leslie wouldn't suspect anything, and would just focus on the sappy stuff.

"Are you sure that comment is work appropriate?" Leslie asked, but in a playfully serious fashion- or as playfully serious as she could get.

"I guess old habits die hard, on the slim chance they die at all." That was probably the limit to how sweet he could be, so he limited himself to just shaking Leslie's hand. It wasn't a good night kiss, as they had gotten used to doing lately. It wasn't enough to make either of them forget the hard times on the way.

But in their current state, just holding each other's hand- even in a handshake- was enough to give them comfort, and to make them remember what they were going through all this for.

"Good night, Leslie," Ben offered, on the off chance she could still have one.

"Good night, Ben," Leslie countered, putting on her best brave smile to reassure him.

Ben had become far too good at not hugging her in moments like this, at least in public. He knew he was going to have to become a master soon, however. Perhaps being able to actually walk away now was a good first step.

He would have to walk away a bunch more times, for some time to come. She would have to do so too, no matter how difficult it might be for her or not. With this kind of challenge on the way, they may not even have a concrete plan in place until the end of summer, at this rate. But Ben swore to himself that he wouldn't be the one to ruin their plan.

Any last hope for a clear, quick, painless resolution was officially over, and there seemed to be no good way out. Yet every time Ben thought that before, there was always a flu-ridden speech, one actually good interview, a lifted curse, a meal at a wallflower mural, a pep talk for Ann, and a first kiss to prove him wrong.

This next obstacle would be the hardest one yet. But if he really was still sane after those other obstacles, this one….probably wouldn't turn the tide. It just couldn't now.

Even if it might take four months or so to find a new plan of attack.


	2. Leslie's Decision

**Warning: Still massive spoilers for "Lil Sebastian" although it was already spoiled in chapter 1. But this time, its spoiled mostly from Leslie's POV.**

So there was no massive fanfare after all. No one was chanting her name, no confetti was raining down, and it had happened at the after party for Lil Sebastian's funeral. Leslie Knope spent years imagining how it would go when she was offered a higher office- and this was certainly low on the list of fantasies. Even leaving aside that one other little problem.

She always figured that she would have jumped up and down and hugged everyone when this moment came. But that would have been inappropriate here, although it might be nice for some mourners to hug someone without crying again. It was probably too soon, anyway, given the horrendous loss.

Yet proper funeral décor wasn't the only reason Leslie was quiet after her recent meeting, and she knew that all too well. And of course, that reason was coming up to her right now.

"Some night, huh?" Ben asked in the understatement of the year. "I think I should go start sleeping it off. So….I'll see you around tomorrow at work." Great, he already forgot that they couldn't do that much at work anymore….although it's not like they could do anything outside of work soon. But he couldn't know that yet.

"Or not, since we might be too busy," Leslie said a bit quickly. At least she had the new work rules as an excuse to avoid him, and delay the inevitable disaster. "I need my sleep too, so if I'm too sleepy to drop by tomorrow, it just means I'm too sleepy."

"All right, I'll trust you on that."

Like he trusted her not to stab him in the back and destroy them for good. Yeah, this was already starting out great.

"That was an amazing job today. Any praise you get for this is well deserved, and way way overdue."

Oh, what a time for perfect Ben to make an appearance- at least if mean Ben made a comeback, this might be easier. But she had to do such a good job of killing him, and here they were now. Still, maybe she should savor the perfect Ben moments, while she still could.

"Are you sure that comment is work appropriate?" Leslie asked, in a shockingly light tone.

"I guess old habits die hard, on the slim chance they die at all." Yeah….slim chance. For just a little bit, Leslie wanted to tell him everything, and give him a heads up on the coming nightmare. But when he shook her hand and looked at her with those perfect Ben eyes, she just wanted to give him a few more hours left of peace.

"Good night, Leslie," Ben said, which felt more final to her than he really meant it to be. But she couldn't think like that while he was still here.

"Good night, Ben," Leslie responded, putting on as wide a smile as she could. Yet as soon as Ben let go and walked away, the smile faded into a look of semi-panic. And that was certainly not part of her fantasies for a night like this.

Yep, this officially made it time to go get Ann. So Leslie looked around for her, until she actually saw her with Chris, of all people. Yet for the first time in ages, she didn't have to swallow back nausea around him, since he would be the lesser of two evils for her soon enough.

"Leslie Knope! Congratulations on the spectacular service! It was literally the best horse funeral in human history! Whatever praise and opportunities you get from this won't be nearly enough!" And there was the nausea right on cue.

"Thanks….Ann, didn't you need my help finding stuff for your lady parts in your office? Or anything else we needed to find in your office by ourselves?" For once, Leslie didn't care if she was being less than subtle around Chris right now.

"Um, yeah, I am still losing lady parts stuff in there," Ann responded, confused but still playing along. So she excused herself from Chris, and the two ladies went off after hearing their full name one last time. Somehow, Leslie refrained herself from babbling, or showing off too many of her nerves, until they got to Ann's office and shut the door.

"Theywantmetorunforcitycouncil!" Leslie blabbed, when the coast was clear. Ann clearly didn't understand, yet she had gotten better at decoding Leslie's gibberish by now. So she tried to figure it out for herself before she asked for help.

"Okay, that first part sounded a bit like 'they want me to'," Ann guessed, and Leslie nodded in agreement. "They want you to…fun? No, that's not it…..bun? Run?" Leslie nodded even faster, and then the rest fell into place for Ann. "They want you to run for city council?"

Despite everything, this was the first time Leslie really let it sink in, now that someone actually said it clearly enough. As such, Ann was the only one to jump up and down and start hugging afterwards. But although Leslie wasn't as excitable, Ann didn't notice quite yet.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it! I mean, I can believe it since it should have happened sooner, but at least it's happening now! Oh, you've got to tell me what Ben did when you told him!"

At that, Ann finally noticed that Leslie wasn't as bubbly as she was, especially when she brought up Ben. And it didn't take long after that for Ann to figure out why. "Oh…."

"Yeah, oh…." Leslie said as she sat down in front of Ann's desk. "But I guess you're still going to tell me to screw the rules, like you did before."

"Wow….actually, this is a bit more serious. I figured you could just get your job back even if you got caught, but this….this is a lot trickier," Ann admitted. But this wasn't exactly what Leslie was in the mood to hear, especially since her brain was saying it too much already.

"Oh, come on, Perkins, really?" Fortunately, Leslie backtracked and quieted down, since this was no time for another fight with Ann.

"Well….you just said 'they' offered it to you, did you say anything back yet?" Ann asked to move the conversation forward again.

"Of course I did, I said yes. Even when they asked me if I had any scandals, I said yes. Actually, I said no to that one…." Leslie remembered, before something else sank in. Now that the aftershock of what had happened was wearing off, the full force of it all, and what she had actually done, was much clearer.

"I just chose my career over Ben, didn't I?"

"What? No, Leslie, you just chose to run for office, like you always wanted. You still have that and Ben," Ann tried to assure, but she sensed she wouldn't get anywhere right away.

"Not for long, not now! I almost destroyed Lil Sebastian's funeral because we couldn't keep this a secret, and I let Jerry burn Ron's eyebrows off! There's no way we can keep this quiet during an election, but I just dove in anyway! I could have stalled or actually thought about it first….but I picked my career over us instead. So I guess now I know what's really more important to me."

"No you don't, that doesn't mean anything!" Ann interjected. "You were put on the spot, so it doesn't count."

"And how am I going to pick Ben over a city council seat when it does count, because it will! Maybe I need to end it now, before I wind up burning City Council down!"

"Leslie!" Ann yelled out in a tone that always managed to quiet her down. "We're not going to think about that yet, okay? Now what did Ben say when you told him? Does he have any ideas?" Once Leslie didn't say anything, Ann had her answer pretty quickly.

"I know, I should have told him before he left!" Leslie said before Ann had the chance to. "But I wanted him to be ignorant for a while longer, before the end came!"

Negativity did not become Leslie, and Ann found it quite ugly when it tried to anyway. "I'm sure once you tell him, you'll think of some new rules and schedules to stop the end a while longer."

"Well, we already promised to stop fooling around at work. But we'll never be able to fool around at home once I start my campaign, and once everyone comes after me!" Leslie conceded. "So either we give in at work, and get caught by the few people left here who don't know about us, or we give in at home and have it air on an attack ad!"

"I don't think you can air campaign ads with someone making out or having sex," Ann tried to counter.

"Oh Ann….it's times like this that I wish I was as pure as you," Leslie oddly said- but at least it was better than her other statements so far.

"Well….whatever you are, you're enough things to figure this out," Ann conveyed. "Maybe you've had a rocky start, but as soon as you and Ben can put your minds together, you'll be fine. That's why you don't have to choose one thing or the other yet." Leslie still looked a little unconvinced, but not as much as before- so Ann figured out a way to drive the point home.

"Besides, what kind of feminist has to let herself choose between love and her career? What kind of message does that send to all your future female voters? You're Leslie Knope, and you don't have to make sexist choices like that! That's not the kind of powerful, modern woman you are right?" As Leslie started to light up, Ann wished she'd led off with that argument.

"Yeah! If I'm going to represent all the Pawnee gals now, I can't give in to sexist clichés! I _can_ have it all!" But as soon as Leslie was lifted back up, her joy seemed to fade back once again. "I just….still don't know if I can keep it all."

"You'll feel more confident when you talk to Ben. It doesn't have to be tonight, but it should be soon," Ann assured. "And once you do, I'll be right there to help you both work out the rest. After all, you'll need a good PR woman to help protect your image, right?"

At that, Leslie finally had a genuine laugh without any nerves. Yet there was still the most nagging nerve left of all to take care of. "But what if I do have to choose between this and Ben again?"

"Okay, fine, maybe you still don't know if you like Ben more than your career," Ann admitted. "But do you still _want_ to like him that much?"

Logically, there was no way that Leslie could say yes. Their secret had already wrecked what should have been the best moment of her life tonight, and something she had dreamed of for decades. Every big moment they'd had for the last several months was tainted by secrecy, mistakes, mishaps and wacky cover-ups. She already established that her career still meant a little more than him, and it would be hard to change that in the future. And if she wasn't willing to lose the career she had for this, she surely couldn't lose the career she was finally headed towards now.

All of that was very clear in her mind.

But when she allowed herself to just think of Ben for a few seconds, it became even clearer. "Oh God, who am I kidding? Of course I do…."

With that now fresh in her mind, and with Ann's smiling face now glowing, Leslie quickly reached for her phone before she let herself change her mind. Impulse decisions and not thinking ahead were what got her into this, and that had to stop. But not before this one final mistake.

20 minutes later, Ben entered his room, still flooded with his own ideas. Although his brain was running a mile a minute, at least his body could rest, and maybe manage 1-2 hours of sleep. But first, he had to get changed, so he started by taking his stuff out of his pocket.

When he took out his cell phone, and saw that it had a new message on it, his mind stopped racing for a little bit. He was too distracted to hear it ringing earlier, so he should probably listen to his new voice mail before he went on overdrive again.

"_Hello Ben, this is Leslie. Leslie Knope from the Parks Department, and just from the Parks Department. Anyway, I know you're too tired to talk right now, and we might not be able to reach each other at work tomorrow. But maybe you could come to my house tomorrow night, to go over….some work stuff we can't go over during the day. Not that kind of work stuff….not that I'm referring to specific work stuff of course. But it's something a bit too big for work anyway, so…..there you go! This has been Leslie from the Parks Department….so, good night!"_

Just enough of that rambling made enough sense to give Ben hope. She was planning to talk to him about her meeting after all, so his strategy had worked. Once she found the strength to bring it up on her own, they'd be in a much better position to work things out tomorrow at her house. Maybe they'd even do it without needing to role play in the meantime- but he supposed they'd need to take baby steps first.

Either way, Ben would take any small victory he could get, whether it was his or Leslie's. Now he'd have less to worry about while he finished brainstorming tonight.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to get through work tomorrow, without looking ahead to tomorrow night. But with the lack of sleep he'd get tonight, perhaps he'd fall asleep at his desk long enough to pass the time.

**To be continued next week, and hopefully in weekly chapters through much of the summer, until the show is ready to resolve this cliffhanger itself.**


	3. Big News

As it turned out, Ben squeezed in about 3 hours of sleep, before having to drag himself out of bed. For a while, he was a bit too groggy to think about plans and ideas, which actually felt quite peaceful. But once he had his first cup of coffee, and once Chris let him know his first 100 pushups were done for the day, that peacetime was pretty much over.

So Ben went between actually getting some work done, and looking at the clock to see if time was going by faster. Yet there were still many, many hours left in the work day, so his visit to Leslie's was still a long way off. She hadn't come by the office yet, and she hadn't called back to put off their meeting, so he assumed it was still on.

With that in mind, Ben willed himself to settle down. Since today had to be a calmer day than the last few days, all he needed to do was stay in the office, fine tune his talking points, and things might be nice and calm before their big summit.

So of course, word then got out that it was Tom's last day at work.

By the time Chris told Ben and took him to the parks department to say goodbye, Leslie was already proposing a bunch of goodbye party ideas. There was nothing out of the ordinary about that, but to Ben, she seemed a bit more eager than usual to work on another project right now. Unfortunately for her, Tom had a big meeting shortly, with former Indiana Pacer Detlef Schrempf, of all people.

It would have seemed weird to Ben that Tom could get such a meeting, until he remembered Leslie telling him about last year's telethon. But this was the wrong time to remember how that was Leslie's last big adventure before he and Chris showed up, so he tried to push it aside. He even tried to focus on what was left of Ron's facial hair- and how he somehow looked even more traumatized now than he did last night.

But he eventually had to think about Tom's abbreviated goodbye, and how Ben now had one less person other than Leslie to talk to around here. Of course, Tom was hardly useful for more…..serious talks, and his place as the last man that Leslie kissed before Ben was still a bit annoying. Yet he would miss him, and managed to wish him the absolute best with his crazy new company. He even let Tom run off some final "nerd" jokes- there were even some _Star Wars _digs he hadn't already made more than five times.

Yet as Leslie made more promises to give him a bigger sendoff later, Ben had another troubling thought. Tom's new career move was pretty dicey, in spite of Entertainment 720's big debut at the funeral- although at least Tom and Jean Ralphio didn't burn any mustaches off. But for all the risk, Tom, of all people, was choosing his dreams over his current career path. He had the guts to risk it all for something he couldn't wait to do any longer.

And as Ben saw Leslie look out longingly when Tom finally left, he could tell that thought was running through her brain too. With that, he knew he had to head back to the office as quickly as he could.

Thankfully, peace and quiet reigned for the next few hours, as Ben resumed the day's routine. By 3 pm, he'd almost spent as much time doing actual work than he did in peeking at the clock. But since his speeches still needed some fine tuning, that remained his biggest work load for the afternoon. It helped that he only had a light lunch inside, instead of having his usual lunch outside with Leslie- or their pre-lunch make out session either.

Still, it might be good that he kept thinking about that once in a while. At least things weren't going that smooth, because if they were, that would have been the surest sign that disaster was on the way.

But having Chris barge into the office for the second time today was a much more powerful sign.

"Ben, I'm so glad I caught you! I just finished the most amazing phone call of the century!" Okay, that could go either way.

"What happened, did vegetable loaf finally become the new state food?" Ben quipped, in a long shot attempt to make this a funny conversation.

"No, that remains a glorious, unfulfilled dream for now. But I just found out that someone else's great dream is coming true, as we speak! I can't wait another second to tell you…..but first, we have to stop at Ann Perkins' office!"

"Why there?" Ben asked, as a slew of horrific possibilities ran through his head.

"Because both she and you should be there when I tell the whole Parks Department! Come on, let's go!" Yet Ben felt physically incapable of leaving his seat at the moment.

"Um, haven't I spent enough time there today?" But Chris laughed it off and helped Ben finally get on his feet. "Don't worry, Ben, you'll want to make some time to hear this!"

Ben didn't exactly want to, yet he clearly had no choice. He trailed behind as Chris lightly jogged over to Ann's office, and got there just as Chris finished his traditional "Ann Perkins!" greeting.

"Hey Chris….and Ben," Ann trailed off as she noticed Ben coming by. "What are you both doing here?"

"There's something incredible that you need to hear about right now….just as soon as we pick up Andy and get to the parks department!"

"The parks department?" Ann asked, in an attempt to stall. "Um, aren't we too busy to keep coming down there now, for any reason?"

"Trust me, you won't mind all that missed work after hearing this! Come on!" So like Ben, Ann had no choice but to follow Chris, to hear news that they both already knew about. But since Ben still couldn't let Ann that he knew- especially with Chris around- and since Ann didn't know that Ben knew, they walked together in a particularly awkward silence. Even when they picked up Andy and he kept asking what Chris's news was, it didn't distract them all that much.

Yet back in the parks department, Leslie was just doing marginally better in distracting herself. She couldn't hold a goodbye party for Tom today, but she had good ideas on how to do it later. The more she thought about that, the more she couldn't think about tonight's little talk- and the less chance she would have to talk herself out of it.

She swore to herself that she and Ben would talk, and find a way to stay together, in spite of their next crisis. Even though this crisis was supposed to be the greatest moment of her career, instead of yet another threat to her relationship. But thinking along those lines wouldn't get her anywhere, especially with Ben. Yet she knew he would understand what she was going through…..stupid, perfect nerd that he is.

So Leslie forced herself to think about something else, like how many stuntmen she could get to perform for Tom's party. However, once she settled on 12, Ron made his way inside the office. At the least, seeing him made Leslie feel better about her own problems- especially considering who was in his office last night.

"Leslie, I'm in no mood for phone calls, especially after my 10 levels of Hell from yesterday. But April informed me of a call just a few minutes ago that concerned you. So the 11'th level should be right on its way." Before Leslie could figure out what that meant, Ron noticed something outside the office and sighed. "What did I just say?"

Leslie already wasn't clear on what he told her. But when she saw Chris coming in with Ben, Ann and Andy, she had some pretty frightening ideas.

"Could I have everyone's attention, please?" Chris asked excitedly. Once Leslie and Ron finally managed to come out, Chris went on. "Now, I know we are all devastated today over Tom Haverford's departure. But he isn't the only one off to a great and glorious new beginning right now! I've learned that some very important people met with our own Leslie Knope last night….and they just called me to confirm that as of now, she is officially under consideration as a candidate for City Council!"

"What? Aw dude, that was gonna be my 10'th guess!" Andy yelled out. Everyone else had relatively quieter reactions- especially since Ron, Ann, Ben and Leslie were completely quiet. But Chris was still too excited to notice.

"They're going to be visiting this department over the next few days, to see Leslie at work and to discuss her candidacy further. They wanted my permission to do this during her work hours, and I, of course, said yes! Ron probably got the same call a while ago and did the exact same thing, right Ron?"

"I was just going to get around to it…..if that's okay," Ron stated while glancing briefly at Leslie. Yet Chris jumped in with his answer instead.

"Of course it will be! This is a downright historic moment, and I'm glad all of Leslie's closest friends, other than Tom, are hearing about it first right now! We all know how long you've waited for this, Leslie, and we promise to do everything we can to make it worth the wait! Let's give a hand for future Councilwoman Leslie Knope!"

Andy had no problem giving it up and giving her a big pat on the back, while Donna and Jerry gave their congratulations, and even April hid a little half smile. Ron didn't do anything, but no one thought that was out of the ordinary, while Ann forced herself to cheer so no one would suspect anything.

Yet both Leslie and Ben were completely silent, albeit for completely different reasons. For Leslie, she was in shock because she thought this was the first time Ben heard about everything, and that it had been spoiled before she could tell him. The fact that Chris was the one to spoil it certainly didn't help either.

As much as Chris thought he was being supportive and happy for Leslie, he didn't realize how much worse he made everything. Just like he didn't notice how he was ruining everything between her and Ben. Just like he didn't notice how he had already tarnished her campaign before it even started.

He had made sure the greatest dream of her life, and what could be the greatest romantic relationship of her life, would be ruined in one fell swoop. And even now, he couldn't let up in tarnishing her dreams, and everything else she cared about.

As she looked at Chris's still smiling, clapping form, it made all of the fear, panic, frustration and flat out anger of the last 18 hours boil over.

And it then boiled over in the start of a mad dash towards him, much like how her fight with Lindsay started.

But fortunately, she had enough common sense left to not let it go that far. However, it came too late to make herself stop running. So when she got halfway towards Chris, she made a sudden left turn away from him and kept running out of the office- and even had a plausible excuse ready as well.

"Bad waffles, gotta go to the bathroom! Thanks a lot, bye!" Leslie managed to blurt out as she disappeared from view.

Fortunately, only Ben, Ann and Ron knew that she didn't really have to use the bathroom- even if she was heading there now to keep her cover.

"Wow….she already has the active bladder of a state Senator!" Chris raved. He then took his leave to use the bathroom for the fifth time today. So everyone else went back to work, except for Ben and Ann. Finally, Ann made her move to follow Leslie, but Ben stepped forward first.

"I'll do it. I have Chris's bathroom timing down pat by now, anyway." Before Ann could say anything, or give any kind of advice, Ben headed off. But he didn't have to rush, since Chris would be far away from the ladies' bathroom in just a few minutes.

By the time Ben got to the bathroom door, he was confident that Chris was too far away to listen in. But he still had to be sure they were alone, and he certainly couldn't come in to find out.

"Leslie?" Ben asked through the door, as quietly as possible. "Are you in there? Are you alone? Say something so I know you're in there and alone."

Ben looked around, just in case Leslie was sneaking up on him, as part of a prank to lighten the tension. But after he saw the coast was clear, he heard a voice say "I'm alone, nerd" from behind the door. He chuckled, although he hoped Leslie didn't mean anything more by that choice of words. Yet whatever she was thinking now, he had to explain himself before she got out of hand explaining herself.

"Leslie, I already knew about it. I heard those people talking about you in the hallway last night. I just wanted to wait until you were comfortable enough to talk about it…..which was probably supposed to be tonight." Now Ben realized that tonight's big meeting was probably in doubt, even if he had reassured Leslie just now. But although he spent the whole day planning for it, he couldn't push it on her now- and he might need extra time to fine tune his remarks anyway. Yet just in case….

"I'll tell you what. I'll come down to your house at 8, and if you don't open the door, I'll head right out and wait to be invited back. But if you do let me in, you should be careful, because then I won't be going anywhere until we have a real plan worked out. Just to give you fair warning."

The door remained close, and no one was saying anything behind it, so Ben figured he'd leave her alone to think. But he then thought of a few more last words to leave her with.

"By the way….you would have flattened Chris like a J.J's pancake." And although it was slightly muffled behind a door, and he couldn't see her, Ben was relieved to hear Leslie laugh for the first time in what seemed like a long time- or at least long by her standards. As such, he finally headed off, since any other final note after that would ruin it.

He was far gone by the time Leslie finally came out of the bathroom, and was able to return to the office. For the rest of the day, she got through the remaining praise from her co-workers, and everyone else that Chris had told throughout City Hall. In between, she filled Ann in about what Ben had said, and Ann again vowed to be on stand-by in case she had to come over. Yet Leslie assured her that she could handle it herself for now- while leaving out that she was still undecided on handling it.

But for once, she was eager to leave work at closing time, so she could rush home and get ready, just in case. When she got home, it was a half hour before Ben would arrive, which left her time to clear out a couple of her hallways. Clearing them all would have been too much to ask for, even if her mind was completely clear. Yet she did as well as she could.

However, there were still a few minutes left to spare when she was done, so she probably did too good of a job. This would give Leslie just enough time to change her mind, talk herself out of this, ignore Ben knocking on the door, and remember that her dreams for higher office were here first. Since this was her last chance to get clear of this scandal, before she could cause it, it would be all too easy to make a break for it.

But when she remembered why she didn't want to think like that, she put her foot down. Granted, she put it down over one of her newspapers from 2002, but still.

Ben was probably as worked up as she was, yet he was still putting her first. If he wasn't, he would have come to her right away and demanded to know if she was dumping him. Yet he said he wanted her to feel comfortable first, before they said anything to each other. Granted, that was probably their only hope to overcome this, so it was only logical….but beyond that….

Leslie thought she was done doubting her feelings for Ben last night, and now she was slipping into that trap again. That kind of flip-flopping was just inexcusable, for both sides of her- the candidate Leslie and the relationship Leslie. If she could be this in doubt over being with someone she….passionately cared for, how could she fight for things she passionately cared for in the campaign?

She was only in doubt about being with him in public, but not about being with him at all. And if there was a way to stay with him in private, and still run for office, she had to find it now. No more distractions, no more second thoughts, no more incompetence at keeping secrets, and no more getting distracted by making out with him. That last part would be the hardest of all to remember, but it had to be done.

The Leslie Knope who was going to be in City Council couldn't be indecisive, nervous, in doubt, or ready to abandon what was important to her. So she had to set an example for the other Leslie, starting right now.

Starting right after Ben was finished knocking on the door.

Leslie got herself up and started walking as Ben kept knocking. She figured she should answer now, before he started to doubt that she really was coming.

But first, she made one final promise that both Leslies would be on their best behavior, and be in sync for the first time in ages. All the Bens that were at her door deserved that much from them.

So with a deep breath, she opened the door to greet them all.

"Ben," Leslie greeted, as she stepped back to let her relieved guest inside.

"Councilwoman."


	4. Romantic Project

"I'm not a councilwoman yet, Ben."

"Maybe, but I can't say that you won't be. That's not what secret boyfriends do...assuming that's what I still am."

"Well, if you knew what was going on yesterday, you know that it'll really have to stay a secret now."

"Unless we break up or you decide not to run. Are any of those ideas an option? Is….is the first one? Leslie?"

"No….you know I don't want it to be. But if it's going to stay that way, we really need a plan. I almost killed Chris today because I freaked out, and that can't happen again….sadly."

"You would have flattened him, but I don't know if you would have killed him."

"Fine, paralyzed him, whatever! The point is we can't maim anyone, or do anything else to get ourselves caught! But we got caught a bunch of times already, so how are we going to stop that now?"

"I don't know. I've been thinking up ideas for the last 24 hours, and I can't say for sure if they'll work. We'd have to be more capable of controlling ourselves than we have been so far."

"Well Ben, what you said to me in the bathroom won't help me do that. But I guess asking you to be less perfect and awesome wouldn't be good in the long term. God, why can't we be more professional and less horny, like we used to be?"

"Because it got too hard to just be professional with each other. And you saying the, um, h-word probably doesn't help either."

"Sheesh, we never had to worry about h-words at the Harvest Festival! Especially Harvest, but that's….that's….."

"Leslie? That's what?"

"It, of course! That's it!"

"And what's that, again?"

"That is you need to work on my campaign, duh!"

But "duh" wasn't the word that came to mind for Ben after hearing that. Rather, it was a bunch of words that reflected how confused he was. Yet since he didn't say any of them, Leslie went on.

"Look, we were so perfect working together on Harvest Fest, because it was such a big project! So much was on the line, that we could put aside our feelings for each other and do what had to be done! We can do that with this too!"

Ben got a bit hung up on Leslie all but admitting she had feelings for him during the Harvest Festival. But trying to figure out the rest of Leslie's words, and whether they made sense, soon took up his attention. "How are we supposed to do that? It'll be harder for us not to make out after work than it was at Harvest Fest."

"You know we can't make out after work, not when everyone starts watching me. But we don't have to totally avoid each other, either. If we worked together in my campaign, it would give us an excuse to still hang out! We'd be too busy to make out, but we'd still be together….and it'd still be romantic. I mean, you helping me get into City Council….that sounds like the most romantic thing ever for me!"

When Leslie phrased it that way, it certainly sounded unbelievable, among other things. But Ben still saw a few holes in her romantic dreams. "But what if it's too romantic for us to control ourselves?"

"Then we give ourselves so much important work that we won't have time to do it! But we can still have fun working without kissing. We did it before at Harvest Fest and we were great at it! I think we can do it again, since we pretty much have to."

"What about Operation Shutdown? I thought it was too risky for us to work together now."

"That's for parks work, when you have no other excuse to come by. This is something I could really use your work help on. I mean, you're the only one I know who's actually done this campaign stuff before."

With that, Ben remembered one of the most horrifying things of all about this mess. It was something that took him 24 hours to figure it out, but now it wouldn't be forgotten for quite a while.

For the first time in 17 years, Ben would be associated with a political campaign. "Oh God, I have done this before…."

Ben put his hands on his face, as his nerves were finally winning out for the first time since he came in. They almost took over for Leslie as well, now that she realized she may have said the wrong thing. But she figured he would have made the connection earlier, if he'd been thinking about this all day. Yet it seemed he was too concerned about her to do that until now, which almost flattered Leslie- until she got herself to start thinking again. Her brain was finally on a roll again, and she couldn't risk pausing it for another second.

"You're not the one who's running this time, Ben, I am. You'll just need to do behind-the-scenes stuff, not make promises about ice towns."

"Leslie, I didn't know what I was doing 17 years ago. And political campaigns are a lot different now, anyway, so I still wouldn't know what to do."

"You still won when you didn't know what you were doing! Forget about what happened after that!"

"I would if I could, you know that."

"Then at least remember that you ran a better campaign at 18 than all those Minnesota adults! That's the kind of track record I need on my staff! If you could convince everyone to vote for a cute boy mayor, you can certainly get a few swing voters on my side!"

"But…but won't they have staffers and other people to help you out? If you fight too hard to include me, it might be a bit suspicious."

"Fine, maybe they won't let you run my campaign. But I can get them to let you help some other way. After all, who can show people how great I'd be for this job better than you?"

Ben could hardly argue with that point, but he could nitpick just a little. "What if I sound….a bit over the top in convincing voters?"

"Then use some Pawnee metaphors like you did in Indianapolis. Or some other metaphor that only I'd really get."

"Would Chris even let me take that much time from my job to help you? He could see that as a conflict of interest."

"He said he wanted to do everything to help me, didn't he? And even he's gotta give us one tiny, little break at some point, right?"

That would be nice, but Ben had all but given up on that when Chris barged in on dinner. Yet even he couldn't top himself forever….

"Look Ben, I don't even have a campaign yet, and I probably won't until those committee guys visit again. But when I do, our best shot is for you to help out somehow." With that, Leslie went all the way back to when they first met, to drive the point home. "You're the one that said you wanted to run for office again, way back when I thought you were just mean. Wouldn't this be the best on the job training for that?"

"That was different, I never thought back then that I'd face….these kind of circumstances."

"But you're in a lot better shape to take them on now, I know you are! And I'd feel a lot better if I was helping you prove that. You were a lot braver than I was before we finally kissed, and when this whole thing got started. So let me do just this one thing for you now."

"Leslie, you've already done a lot more than that for me…."

"Except this! Helping you get back into politics is the only thing I haven't done yet! So I think me doing that, and you helping me fulfill my dream, should keep our minds off making out. And if not, Ann will help us work out the rest."

Leslie had run out of points at the moment, and she figured that Ann was as good a last point as any. So she let her brain catch its breath while she waited for Ben to nitpick some more. But instead of arguing some more, Ben soon had one of those familiar looks of adoration on his face.

"I thought all day about ideas …..and then in just a minute, you have all this worked out?" This gave Leslie's brain the inspiration to get right back to work.

"Because I had you to bounce ideas off of. That's how good we are together at work, and not just at….other stuff. If we focus on that part of our relationship for a while, we can't lose. Besides, if I win, then you won't be my boss anymore, and maybe we can find a new loophole then. Shouldn't that motivate us to not screw everything up for a while?"

Leslie took another brief rest while Ben thought this over. There was still so much risk to this whole thing, and both of them knew that. It couldn't be just like the Harvest Festival, since they weren't all that conscious of their feelings yet back then- or at least didn't have to trip over themselves to ignore them. And if this failed, both of them would be at risk, and Leslie would be even worse off than if Harvest Fest had gone under.

Yet although there was so much that could go wrong, Leslie was still highlighting all that could go right- even now. Even in spite of all the doubt and hard times she'd gone through today, she still found the bright light to everything. One of these days, that wouldn't be so surprising to Ben- but it wouldn't be today.

But whenever she found that bright light, and worked tirelessly to catch it, she and him hadn't gone wrong so far.

And now she wanted to find it, and keep him around, in spite of how much it could ruin her greatest hopes and dreams. She still wanted to be with him, and make working on a political campaign a big romantic project. And she was even still thinking of helping him beat back the memories of Ice Town once and for all- maybe even for good.

They'd be utterly destroyed if this failed, that much would never change. But if it didn't….

"Yes. Yes, I think it can motivate me," Ben finally answered. Leslie smiled brightly, as she always did when she got a plan approved, but there was a decided bit of relief mixed with that smile. "Great! Now that we're motivated, we can actually follow through with a plan."

"Well, we won't need to right away. You'll be meeting with that committee in the next few days, and then you'll have a campaign ready. You can recommend me then, and I'll sell Chris on the idea then as well," Ben offered.

"Yeah, but we still have to work out how we'll get all that done. And we still have to figure out how to hold back our…less political urges. I'll call Ann now so she can help us work out a system."

"But I thought we're going to just work together from now on, without any more private time," Ben slightly lamented.

"Well, we'll need a system for the first few weeks, until we get used to it. Besides, we might still have to work late and have dinner on some nights, so we need a lot of protocol for that," Leslie pointed out. "But we still have a few days to get all that straightened out, if we start now."

So Leslie got her head start by getting up and calling Ann. After assuring her that everything was working out fine, she agreed to head right on over. Leslie took it as a good sign that she was already calm and reassured, to some extent, without needing Ann to give her a pep talk this time.

Now that her plan was sinking in, she saw how it might be difficult to keep her hands off of Ben for the entire campaign, especially if they were working close together. Since they couldn't even risk having much private time, there would be no relief if it got too hard. Yet work and huge projects had already helped them block out the outside world, and their personal lives, for many years before now. So it would be really stupid if that didn't happen now.

Besides, having work Ben by her side was better than no Ben at all, especially on a "project" like this.

"All right, she'll be over in a few minutes," Leslie informed the Ben that was now standing in front of her couch.

"That's good. It looks like we've covered almost everything already…..but I can't help but think I forgot one thing."

"What? You're not going to freak out if we go back on Crazy Ira, are you?"

Instead of answering Leslie with words, Ben just replied by walking up and wrapping his arms around her. Leslie didn't have much of an answer to that, especially with everything that happened earlier- and with Ben actually being as tight a hugger as she was.

"Oh right, there's that 'I'm so proud of you' hug I was saving since last night. It was starting to get a little heavy in my pocket." Ben broke off while Leslie was trying to think of a funny response, if only to keep her brain from turning mushy. But he managed to speak first anyway.

"You know, I might as well get out my new 'thanks for keeping me around' hug before it gets too heavy too." And he did.

For all of the kissing and role playing they'd done since getting together, Leslie realized that this was her favorite intimate moment with Ben by far. Since it came after the stress, madness and muted excitement of the last 24 hours, it helped put this moment well over the top. What's more, now that they were moving forward after all, it finally lifted the huge cloud over what was to come for Leslie.

And as Ben finally broke from her again, the feelings that she should have felt over last night's offer- and what she dreamed she would feel at that moment for decades- finally began to come through. "Ben?"

"Yes, Leslie?" Ben asked, while noting her increasingly wider smile- wider even by her standards.

"I'm running for City Council…."

While she said that in an excited whisper, she was a lot louder when she jumped up and hugged Ben this time. The impact made the both of them fall back on the couch, but it just made them laugh some more. But Ben briefly stopped when he got out his phone from his back pocket, just to make sure it wasn't on this time.

After that was settled, the two sat up and caught their breath in silence, as Leslie was snuggled up besides Ben. "I guess we won't be able to do this again for a while," Ben said, before he could stop himself from wrecking the mood.

"Well, we've got a few days till we have to stop, and a few minutes before we have to stop this time," Leslie reminded. "But this is nice, even without kissing. I mean, we have to start being close without kissing at some point, right?"

"I guess this is one of the better ways to do it," Ben conceded, before deciding not to spoil the mood any more by talking.

Leslie kept silent as well, although her mind was a different story. It was reminding her how hard it would be not to do this for the next several months- but admitted that having Ben nearby in other ways might just balance it out.

No matter how well this had turned out, Leslie still felt like she had chosen her career over Ben, just by agreeing to run. Yet she swore that she could still have her new career and keep Ben, even if it wasn't in an ideal fashion.

But if she had anything to do with it, she would not make the unfair and sexist choice between either having her career or Ben again- at least not during this dream election.

As she made that vow to herself, and cuddled closer to Ben, Leslie wished for the first time ever that Ann would take her time getting to the house.


	5. New Routine

Leslie and Ben got a few minutes of extra cuddling in before Ann finally arrived. Although ending that perfect moment was aggravating for Ben, he knew that he'd have to start practicing restraint around Leslie right now. In any case, he knew he wouldn't get a word in edge wise while Leslie and Ann were talking, so that helped him distance himself while they caught up.

After Ann got done cheering that the two would stay together, she was more confused when Leslie said that they were cutting back on private time, But eventually, Ann understood- or pretended to for their sake- that once Leslie announced her candidacy, they couldn't spend too much time together outside of work without getting caught. That was why they had to start weaning themselves off each other now, while they still had time.

Leslie's meeting with the political committee would take a few days, and once she finished wowing them, it would probably be another few weeks before she could get a campaign off the ground. Between now and her first campaign speech, she and Ben would have to slowly cut down on their after-work time together. With Ann's help, they worked out an allotted schedule in which they would spend gradually less time each night- and start cutting down on their more intimate time as well.

As their after-work meetings decreased, the two would slowly increase their work meetings as well. "Operation Shutdown" would still be in effect, at least when it came to making out, but they realized they would now have to start reestablishing a professional relationship. If they did that, it wouldn't be as awkward when they started working on the campaign. But first, they'd have to spend less time kissing before they were ready for that step.

If it still got too hard for them to just work- especially when they were alone- they would use a series of safe words whenever necessary. Although Leslie kept calling them "safety words" she still worked out a list of words she could choose from, for moments that felt a bit too intense.

But there probably wouldn't be too many of those moments at first, since Ben would have to slowly prove his worth to her campaign. So they worked out that he would start off doing volunteer work, and recruit voters by going door-to-door. If that worked well enough, he could probably start worming his way into the campaign's inner circle, and take on more responsibilities. At least enough to distract him from the other ways he'd like to help the candidate.

By the time they had their new routines mapped out, Leslie and Ben actually felt a lot more confident. If they had done this kind of planning from the start, they wouldn't have had so many close calls in the last few weeks. Heck, if they had planned out the funeral better, the committee might not have been impressed enough to meet with Leslie in the first place. But those kinds of thoughts- and the avenues they can lead to- would have to be cut down as well.

Yet now they were back in their element, making schedules and plans for a big project- perhaps the biggest of their lives. Before long, they didn't need that much input from Ann, but they still needed her to get them back on track at various points. Having that kind of outside help was quite valuable, yet they hoped they wouldn't need it as much during the campaign.

Considering the messes that Leslie and Ben had gotten into so far, asking them to magically get good at secrecy- especially in the midst of an election- might be unrealistic. But the Leslie and Ben that screwed up so much in the last month were their most reckless, out of control versions. Now that the sensible, sane Leslie and Ben were about to return, perhaps they could get somewhere. At the least, they figured out that slowly killing off their lusty, role playing versions might work better than instant death.

To get off to a good start on that end, they only had a little good bye kiss with no tongue before Ben left. It still felt a little inadequate and awkward, but that would surely change by the time they could only have five kisses a night.

The next morning, Leslie finally felt like her old, excited self again. Still having a secret relationship and a new political career, and actual plans to fall back on, could do that to someone. Now that she had a real strategy for the first time in ages, it made her think this could actually work after all. She would certainly be too distracted to make out with Ben at work this week- and might have too much to talk about to make out with him tonight.

But they did have a 10 minute make out session scheduled in the middle of their 90 minute date. So hopefully enough would happen in this meeting to fill an 80 minute recap.

Leslie didn't doubt it would, since she had been waiting for such a series of meetings for years. Now that her fears about Ben had been held back for the moment, she could fully indulge in this dream come true at long last. After imagining something like this for so long, she knew exactly what to do, especially now that her distractions weren't as….distracting.

As such, when William Barnes and his committee arrived at noon, Leslie was completely ready. She spent the next two hours going over her career, all of her past projects, and all of the ideas she had on tap. When she got to her more ambitious plans, a voice in her head that sounded a bit like Ben warned her not to be too over the top, so her guests wouldn't be weirded out. Yet if they were, they didn't show it often enough to derail the interview.

Leslie told Ben about the voice that night, just in time to fill out the last five minutes before their scheduled make out time.

The next day, the committee returned with a few new guests, as actual party figures had come to see Leslie for themselves. She filled them in on the past day's conversations on the road, as they toured Pawnee's parks to see Leslie at work on the front lines. Fortunately, only four raccoons were feasting near the kids at Ramset Park that afternoon. And in another break, when they got to the new wiffleball field, only a few Pawnee and Eagleton residents were shouting at each other from opposite sides of the fence.

Somehow, Leslie broke that up, while not spending more than half the time shouting at Eagleton's jerks herself. Her pride at that achievement helped get her settled that night, after her 9 ½ minute make out session with Ben ended.

On the third and final day of meetings, Leslie got to stay in her office to field some final questions. But she only got grilled by Barnes and the party's co-chairmen, while the other party staffers questioned her co-workers, to get their opinions on Leslie and her qualifications. Combined together, the one-on-one sessions, seeing Leslie at work, and her co-workers opinions would help the party decide if it wanted to back her.

By the end of the interviews, there were a lot of….interesting opinions that the visitors had to go over. They were too bored by Jerry's answer to finish writing it down, but they were able to transcribe some more noteworthy answers.

_Andy Dwyer_

"_Leslie would be the most awesome Queen of Pawnee ever! I'll bet Kate Middleton doesn't even live here anyway, so that should cost her the election right there!"_

_April Ludgate-Dwyer_

"_I can't read all my magazines cause Leslie keeps dragging me into doing work, it sucks. But I guess people who don't think that sucks would like her."_

_Ron Swanson_

"_Someday you people will be stopped before you finish turning Pawnee into a nosy, big government Hellscape that cares way too much about things. Unfortunately, that day will probably take longer to arrive once Leslie gets in."_

_Chris Traeger_

"_Leslie Knope is the most qualified, perfect candidate imaginable for City Council. In fact, she is literally the most qualified person in this state, if not the entire solar system. Or at least a few distant galaxies."_

_Ben Wyatt_

"_You've already spent two days with Leslie. So why do you need me to convince you she's the best candidate you've ever met? Waffle."_

That night, Ben reassured Leslie that using one of her own safety words didn't make them suspicious. In fact, by using "Waffle" he got to segway into her support of J.J's and other local businesses. This made Leslie calm enough to relax during their nine-minute make out session, and the rest of their 75 minute stint in her house.

Over the next several days, things settled down in the office, as Leslie just had to take a few phone calls from the committee. While they held Leslie's political fate in their hands, her romantic fate with Ben became more promising, even as they weren't kissing as much. Yet they had gotten down to under an hour in their after-work dates, without being too frustrated or pent up. In fact, they almost felt brave enough to start having normal conversations at work again.

But first, a week after the committee's last visit, Leslie finally got another visit from the party officials. Since Barnes and his people had done their job in recommending Leslie, she was now meeting nothing but the party chairmen and staffers. Yet after last week, she was able to keep track of them and tell them apart.

Co-chairs Michael and Greg were sitting opposite of her in the conference room, while aides Amy, Adam, Rashida, Aubrey and Aziz filled the rest of the seats. Nick wasn't able to make it, but Michael assured Leslie that he sent his regards. He also had one other thing to assure Leslie about as well.

"Well Leslie, you made a….unique impression on us in the last week," Michael started. "That's why we're ready to throw our hat in with you."

"Is that some political fancy talk way of saying you're gonna let me run?" Leslie asked eagerly.

"Fancy or not, it means that we will fully stake you in your City Council campaign," Greg clarified. "If that's what you still want to do."

"Are you kidding me? Of course I do!" Leslie exclaimed, forgetting that those who didn't know her well might be taken aback by her kind of excitement. "I must have told you 20 times that this is my lifelong dream! Did you forget to write it down or something?"

"Even if we did, it still came across to us, trust us," Amy responded.

"Okay, I'll trust you on that for now," Leslie answered, still a bit lost in her glee. For once in these last several months, she didn't have to hold back on her feelings, and any fear that having them could destroy her. In fact, she could even think about the source of those other feelings now without being nervous- and even subtly bring that source up.

"I've got some great ideas for the campaign all lined up! And I have some great recommendations for my staff too!" But before Leslie could bring up Ben as a possible volunteer- a bit ahead of their schedule- Michael finally got a word in.

"Leslie, we'll have plenty of time to work out those details. Technically, we have several days before we can get your campaign up and running. But before we do any of that, we have to figure out who you'll be running against. That's what we've spent the last few days going over."

"We can't order you to face one person or another," Greg went on. "But we can recommend the most vulnerable councilman for you to take down, and hope you'll agree to beat him."

"I'll beat off anyone you ask me to, don't worry!" Leslie said, just before realizing that she might want to calm down a bit. "So, who do you have for me?"

"Leslie, you represent a new kind of political thinking for Pawnee," Rashida started. "Maybe not exactly new, since we've put up optimistic dreamer candidates before. But you're one of the few that's actually managed to get real things done, so that gives us an extra edge."

"That's why facing a veteran that people are getting sick of will really pay off," Adam added. "Someone who's been in office long enough, and who needs to make room for a far different, squeaky clean successor. And since you've already dealt with him before and won, that convinced us he's the best opponent for you to beat by far."

That narrowed down the list of possibilities in Leslie's mind…..almost too much, the more she thought about it. But Michael ended the guessing game right then for her.

"That's why we think you're the best candidate to finally take down Bill Dexhart."

With that statement, all of their cryptic teases made sense for Leslie- and she immediately wished that they didn't.

Bill Dexhart. The biggest pervert in the recent history of City Council. The lunatic who accused her of having an affair with him, and then put Ann in the middle of it as well. The jagweed who almost made her consider leaving Pawnee with Dave, and therefore almost prevented her from meeting Ben. The sicko who Leslie did finally beat, but only by pulling her pants down on Joan Callamezzo's show for the first time.

And now the best way to get into City Council was to run against this giant jerk- who probably knew more about detecting scandals, if not avoiding them, than anyone in the business.

Now it almost made too much sense that everything was finally going so well, only to face this new giant obstacle now.

So once Michael finished his prediction, Leslie could only respond with a deadpan "Of course you do…."

**Readers can reacquaint themselves with Bill Dexhart by watching the beginning of "Practice Date" and all of "Christmas Scandal"- even though these episodes were in the pre-Ben days early in Season 2.**


	6. Final Preparations

**Since I'm on vacation next week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Chapter 7 won't be up until Friday, July 1. So this'll be the last update for two weeks- hopefully enough of you are still reading and still willing to wait that long.**

"Seriously? Dexhart?" Ann exclaimed for the third time since Leslie came into her office. But that still didn't come close to the amount of times Leslie asked that question in her head today. "They really can't make you run against that pervert, can they?" Ann went on, with a question that Leslie could answer this time- just barely.

"They say I have a better chance against him than anyone else. And they threw all these poll numbers at me to make me forget my arguments. Where's a numbers robot when you need him?" Leslie was about to segway that into a complaint about "Operation Shutdown" before Ann got inspired to interrupt.

"Wait, this could actually be a good thing! Even if Dexhart found you and Ben out, he couldn't expose you! Otherwise you can bring up his sex scandals, and he'd be toast! Heck, you guys could probably even come out, and you wouldn't look bad at all compared to him!" But just when Ann thought the era of make out schedules was over, Leslie brought her hopes down once again.

"No, we can't, especially not against him! He's survived scandals for years, he knows how to do it better than anyone! He's spent years collecting voters and minions that'll forgive him for anything, just like Lord Voldemort! I don't have that power yet, so I couldn't make it, even if I was Harry Potter!"

"Okay…..well, what if you were Hermione? She had Ron by her side, and that turned out okay for her." Ann asked, trying to speak on Leslie's nerd level.

"Ron couldn't get Hermione enough swing votes, and you know that!" Leslie countered, before remembering that they weren't in Hogwarts- somewhat. "The point is, I can't be the squeaky clean alternative to Dexhart if I have my own, much cooler Ron exposed by Death Eaters!"

"So tell them you want to be the alternative to someone else, then."

"I'll probably lose to someone else, that's the problem," Leslie started. "I'm gonna be a big underdog to start off, no matter who I face. But Dexhart's the guy I have the best chance of coming back against."

"Why would you be the underdog against him in the first place? There's no reason anyone should like him, especially more than you!" Ann pointed out.

"I know that, but 60 percent of Pawnee didn't in the last election! But maybe I could convince about 15 percent of them to finally change their mind," Leslie rationalized. "Plus, I actually like those other guys I could run against…..and I wouldn't have that problem with Dexhart. And I probably wouldn't need to moon TV cameras to beat him in debates this time."

"Even if you did, it's nothing that voters haven't seen before," Ann joked, now that she realized Leslie was going to face Dexhart, and would still keep Ben a secret to do it.

"Exactly! And now that me and Ben are gonna stop kissing soon, that's the only time I'd expose myself on the campaign! Dexhart would never find us out then, and neither would anyone else!" Leslie then jumped up in her newfound confidence to hug Ann. "Oh, you always know just the right thing to say to make me see the light!"

"Even without trying, apparently," was all Ann could muster. "So you are going to face him, then?"

"I guess I have to. I mean, it'd be even sweeter to get into City Council by beating him. And I really couldn't risk getting caught by him, so there's no way I could do any making out. This is actually more perfect than I thought!" Ann knew it wasn't, but she had been getting pretty good at not cluing Leslie in on that lately. So she continued to perfect her art by staying quiet, and letting Leslie use her office phone to call Michael.

After officially telling Michael that she'd face Dexhart, Leslie got around to telling Ben about it that night. But once she refreshed Ben's memory on who Dexhart was, and what he had put her through one Christmas, it took her a while to settle Ben down. Yet she finally assured him that she wouldn't be accused of any more affairs, that she wouldn't pull her pants down in front of Dexhart, and that Ben could contain himself if Dexhart slandered her.

Ben and Leslie were getting much better at containing themselves in other ways, since their make out time had gone down to three minutes. They were confident that they could get it to zero in over a week, when Leslie would officially announce her candidacy in a speech at Ramset Park. Until then, she just had to fine tune the final elements of her campaign, how she would balance it out with her job, and who would be on her staff. Since she hadn't officially declared yet- and since they'd keep it a secret that she was challenging Dexhart until then- it was still safe for her and Ben to have some final non-work dates.

As she enjoyed those last nights, Leslie spent the days putting her campaign in place. Once Michael and Greg figured out that she slept only three hours a night, at the most, they were more at ease letting her keep her job and run a campaign. She would spend an extended lunch on the election every day, from noon to 2 pm, and then her nights would be completely devoted to running for office. She even eventually agreed to lighten her parks work load- although since this would give Ron more work to do, it took longer to make him agree to it.

Once that was all settled, the party rented out a campaign office for Leslie that was within walking distance of City Hall. By the time they reached the day before Leslie's first speech, the office was completely set up, and completely staffed as well.

On that afternoon, Michael and Greg came by for a final run through, with supervision from campaign manager Adam. Barnes had even returned as a consultant, although he was currently questioning Leslie on her idea to have Entertainment 720 run her future events. She wanted a smaller, more intimate show for tomorrow's debut, but she figured Tom and Jean-Ralphio's kind of spectacle would work great on swing voters later.

"I don't know if they'll last for that long," Barnes questioned. "I've heard that even Detlef Schrempf isn't helping them get that many gigs. But I suppose we can bring him by for a celebrity endorsement."

"Not without Tom and Jean-Ralphio," Leslie insisted. "You guys got a great staff for me, but I still want my friends to get out the vote for me too." With that, she figured it was the perfect setup to bring up who she really wanted to help out.

"Speaking of which….I might know someone else who can help us spread the word. A little former election winner by the name of Ben Wyatt. Have you heard of him?" The unease that was spreading through the others wasn't what Leslie wanted to see.

"I figured you'd bring him up at some point," Adam commented. "We know he was a big help to you at the Harvest Fest….but he might be too much of a wild card for this campaign."

"Don't get us wrong, we know his credentials on winning elections," Michael spat out before Leslie could start objecting. "But that stuff he did after winning elections….it isn't the best thing to have associated with you."

Greg was even luckier to speak up then, before Leslie had the chance to. "What he means is, you need a perfect campaign to prove you're a perfect alternative to Dexhart. If it got out that an impeached boy mayor was helping you, it'd give him too much fuel to use against you. Then Mr. Wyatt would have to do interviews, which would be an even greater train wreck for us. Especially if he can't get back on track by bashing Altavista."

Before this meeting, Leslie reminded herself that if she fought too hard for Ben, it would look too suspicious. That reminder was the only thing that helped her speak calmly and reasonably to them, instead of doing and saying more unspeakable things. "I see your point…..but my counter point is that this is my campaign. And I want it to include him, so he will be included, okay?"

"We'd still prefer it didn't," Adam insisted. "Everything has to go perfectly in this thing, and Ben Wyatt…..doesn't inspire expectations for perfection."

This is where Leslie's night time self-control was really paying off. Now that she was weaning herself off of physical contact with Ben, and off of other situations that could get them caught, she had enough self-restraint for other things that concerned him. And every bit of it was being used to keep her from making a loud, angry, all-too-revealing ass out of herself in defending Ben now. But because she could contain herself, she could still find other, less damaging ways to make her point. Still, it took her several seconds to feel ready to talk to them in a calm voice.

"Look….you guys picked me because of the Harvest Fest and the funeral. I couldn't have possibly done those things without Ben's help, advice, and friendship. So if you want me to be as successful with this campaign, then he has to be here. Trust me, we're much more likely to avoid disaster if he is." At least Leslie could be entirely truthful on that last part.

"Look, let him do some regular old volunteer work to start off, like going door to door or something. Once he does great on that, I can gradually give him more responsibility. Then if Dexhart brings him up, you guys will know by then that he's worth the risk to keep around." At that point, new and improved Leslie knew to stop right there, before she went further into that last train of thought.

"Well….I suppose we can meet with him tomorrow after your speech," Barnes conceded. "But he's still the assistant city manager, so the city manager would have to let him volunteer."

"He should have that worked out by then," Leslie assured, as she was right back to telling half-truths. In this case, she was actually hoping and praying that Ben had worked that out with Chris at that moment.

As per their plan, Ben was indeed about to bring up this subject with Chris back at City Hall. He felt a little more confident in himself, since he'd resisted the urge to call Leslie for an update on her meeting. But although he was worried that her new helpers would be….too concerned about his past, he knew Leslie could convince them without giving anything away. At that point, it would be up to him to convince Chris that campaigning for Leslie wouldn't skirt any ethical lines.

If he couldn't directly help get Leslie elected while being assistant city manager, then this whole master plan of theirs would crumble rather quickly. So that was all the incentive he needed to make him convince Chris now.

"So Chris, Leslie's campaign is starting pretty soon," Ben started discretely. "And once it does….I was thinking that I could help her out. Like go door-to-door for her or advise her campaign or something….on my own time, of course."

"You want to be a part of her campaign?" Chris asked obviously. "You, Ben Wyatt….want to make yourself part of an election team again?" At the least, Chris asked this in a more surprised and less mocking tone than others might have.

"I know, I know….but that should tell you how much I want to help Leslie, shouldn't it?" Ben countered.

"I must admit, it does. But you are my assistant city manager….I'm not sure city officials can directly use their position to help another employee get elected. It might be a conflict of interest, and I am very big on preventing that sort of thing." Chris reminded.

"You don't need to remind me, I know that all too well," Ben answered, without managing to dwell on it as much as he could have. "But I can take my own off hours to do it, just like Leslie is. Besides, you told her and everyone else that you'd do everything you could to help her, remember?"

"Of course, but this goes beyond simply endorsing her, or asking people to vote for her during light 10k runs."

"Does it? I know you want Leslie to win, and we know both she's the best choice for Pawnee. She'll have a better chance to convince everyone else if I help her out, and we both know that too," Ben pointed out.

"That much is true….but that kind of favoritism from this office might offend the fine candidate Leslie is up against, whomever it might be."

"He isn't as fine as you might think, believe me," Ben started, before wondering if he could reveal too much more. If Chris squealed early that Leslie was facing Dexhart, it might leak to him, and give him extra time to pry into Leslie and all her little secrets. But then again, even he couldn't start his investigation in time to stop Ben and Leslie's final pre-campaign date- not if they ended it early enough.

"I have it on good authority that Leslie's taking on Bill Dexhart. Just please don't say so until her speech tomorrow. But whatever conflict of interest this might be, it's far less than what he's gotten away with." This put the tiniest inkling of a frown on Chris's face, which made Ben feel home free.

"Duly noted….that man's fantastic and wonderful qualities don't shine as strongly as others in this town. And certainly not as much as Leslie's." That was one of the more negative things Ben had ever heard Chris say, so now he knew he was home free. "Very well, Ben….you may return to the political front lines with my blessing. And your secret will be safe with me until Leslie's amazing speech tomorrow."

At that moment, Ben almost had as wide a smile as Chris for once. "Thank you, Chris. This really means quite a lot to me, and to her too." Once Ben thought that it was about time Chris helped them out for once, he figured he should leave before he got too happy and blurted it out loud.

Leslie was as happy about that as everything else, once Ben filled her in that night. After they bragged about their respective victories, they spent their time going over Leslie's speech, and fine tuning some of the wilder metaphors. They had all the time they needed to do that, since they could finally go through an entire meeting without doing anything scandalous.

Even so, this would be their last date at Leslie's house for some time, and their last meeting that wouldn't be entirely work related. Once the media, Dexhart and all of Pawnee knew for a fact that Leslie was running tomorrow, there'd be no other way to keep their secret.

That didn't mean that they weren't trying to think of any other solutions, or any loopholes they missed, before Ben had to leave. But nothing was coming to mind, at least not while they were thinking to themselves. So Leslie spoke up before Ben made his way to her door.

"Ben? Um…..are you sure you're going to be okay? After tomorrow, I won't be able to ask you personal stuff like that for a while. So…I figured I should ask you now…..and if there's anything you or I could do in case you're not. Okay, I mean," Leslie felt like she was regressing to her old tongue-tied self, but at the least, her old self would have rambled on a lot longer.

"I'll be fine, Leslie. Maybe I won't be as fine as I want, but I've got the best possible way to make up for that in the next few months. So as long as that works out, it'll be fine," Ben assured.

This didn't entirely satisfy Leslie, but it was the best possible way to come close. Although Ann might have thought differently a few times, Leslie wasn't all that happy that her plan to distance herself from Ben was working. She knew what she was asking of Ben, how hard it was for him- although he would never complain about it to her- and how much worse it would probably get in the months ahead. It was taking all she had to put up with it and power through, and she hoped she wasn't giving the impression that it wasn't.

"Okay then. But, um…..if that way makes you feel neglected, or frustrated, or lonely, or some other dirty feeling…..I hope you know that I'll be feeling the exact same way. Even if it doesn't look like it."

And there they were, back to using cryptic metaphors to hint at, and hide, what they really wanted to say or feel. Since they were experts at that before the road trip, it sadly wasn't that hard to get used to it again. Yet they were still so good at it, it served as a promising sign for their future success- at least something had to.

But this cryptic metaphor still conveyed some reassurance to Ben, so that helped a lot. As such, he indulged in one final, non-professional hug with Leslie, followed by a final, small but still lingering non-professional kiss.

Yet before it lingered too strongly, Leslie thought of another, more professional thing they could still do. "I guess we can always go back to this again," she started off before giving him a series of high fives. Once Ben figured out she was doing their special high-five routine from the Harvest Festival, he caught up and joined right in. This at least made them laugh as Ben reached for the doorknob.

"Okay, see you tomorrow at the park, you big dork," Ben quipped, stepping out just as Leslie finished calling him a big nerd in return. That would at least get him through the night and tomorrow morning before Leslie's speech.

As for Leslie, a sense of finality swept through her once Ben was gone. But she was hoping for relief, now that they had made sure they wouldn't screw up during the campaign, and were ready to just work together again. Yet although things were looking up for them, and she would give the first of many speeches that she had waited years to make tomorrow, that nagging sense of regret wasn't going away.

However, the election was supposed to help make that go away, or at least not make it show up so much. So she figured reviewing her speech 10 more times before bed should be a good start.

At least it should be.


	7. Leslie's Debut

**With no more vacations on the horizon, it's back to new chapters every Friday.**

The big day looked like any other one at first. Leslie got into the office bright and early, as always, while everyone else got in at a more reasonable hour. Also as usual, Leslie had a share of projects to work on in the morning, while everyone else went through their usual work routines, laziness, side projects and Jerry jokes.

And as usual, Leslie couldn't stop thinking about her lunch break during the morning. But the big difference was that she wasn't fantasizing about J.J.'s waffles, whipped cream, or any other lunch or late breakfast food. She did think about if they'd serve food at the park, but she'd be too busy making the biggest speech of her life to eat her quota.

But that was how things were going to be for some time. The usual quotas and routines would officially no longer apply after today, and there was no going back now. Although she had waited for this for so long, it all finally felt real for the first time. The campaign, the coming rematches with Dexhart, juggling two jobs- and the things she had to give up for both of them.

She knew she wasn't supposed to think about that last part after today. Once the campaign got started, she wouldn't have any free time left to think about it, which was what she and Ben wanted. But since this would be Leslie's last free period for several months, it was a bit easier to indulge herself one more time.

She tried to distract herself by going over her speech, yet it had already been revised, vetted and approved more than enough. Her own brilliance- or at least her ability to make 20 different versions of the same speech- was working against her. But even the best planning couldn't stop every unintended consequence- something that could be learned in an even harder way later. In a lot of different, painful ways. Yet would one be more painful than the other- and if she had to choose, which kind of pain would she want to deal with more?

God, her thoughts usually stopped being this confusing by 6:30. And now it was-

"Leslie? It's time."

"What? Who?" And now she was talking like a confused mental patient as well. But Ron did come out of nowhere and knock on her door pretty loud, so he shared some blame for her craziness this time.

"It's 11:00, we're all heading off to hear your speech. If you're going to be late, tell me now so I can pack three pre-lunches instead of two."

11:00 already? She had been worrying at the last minute for that many minutes? Perhaps worrying about campaigns and relationships was good for something other than ulcers. "No, you can just pack two, I'll be right there!"

Leslie wasn't in danger of being late, since it was a short drive to Ramset Park, and she wasn't scheduled to speak for another 30 minutes. But she wanted to get there early to make final preparations, and her friends wanted to call dibs on the best spots. So Leslie headed out of City Hall at the same time as the rest of the parks department, although Ben seemed to be out of sight.

Leslie would have wondered why she didn't see him, except that it was part of the modified "Operation Shutdown" But surely it could have been bent for a brief visit to calm her nerves. Yet she didn't tell him that it could be, so he must have thought that he was just following the rules. But he was aware that he could still attend speeches and rallies, right?

By the time Leslie remembered that he was, she had arrived near Ramset Park. Her brain hadn't quite settled down yet, and it certainly didn't when she got a look at the growing crowd. But this time, her mind wasn't racing out of nerves- more like surprise.

She expected a good crowd, but there were more people here than even she anticipated. More of them were coming in even now, and there'd probably be well over 100-125 attendees by speech time. Leslie figured there'd be about 50-75, but it was already a bit over that now.

Having to speak in front of a bigger crowd, in such a high stakes scenario, might have made Leslie even more nervous. Yet she always loved talking to big crowds, no matter what mood she was in before a speech. Instead of being nervous, she was more curious about the large crowd, and a little excited for the first time today.

But confusion struck her once she got into the park, and she saw Ben talking to Michael, Greg, Adam and the others. Before she could ask anything, or make any other sounds of surprise, Adam noticed her and came by.

"What do you think, Leslie? This will certainly send an early message to Dexhart, won't it?"

"Yeah….what's that message again? I think you figured it out before I got here," Leslie said, trying to focus on Adam and not Ben.

"Well, it was Mr. Wyatt that helped with it. He called us this morning and wanted an early meeting. By the time we started, he had already gotten a bunch more people to come down for the speech. Apparently, once he mentioned you and what you were going to announce, they came right down."

"We thought we did a good enough job spreading the word," Amy commented. "But Mr. Wyatt came up with this extra boost. He said it would serve as his audition for your campaign."

"And despite our doubts from yesterday, it is an admittedly good audition," Michael stated. "If you want him to have an active role in the campaign, we won't stand in your way. But all his other ideas still have to go through you and Adam."

"That should work out just fine, thank you," Ben assured. "Will Rashida be here with the petitions I asked for soon? After all, we want our guests to sign up and donate right after she wows them."

"Don't worry, we'll have it all ready for you," Greg guaranteed. "But right now, me and the brass want to go through some final things with Leslie, if that's all right."

"It's perfect." Ben then came forward and shook Leslie's hand, as professionally as he could. "I look forward to being an official part of your campaign, Leslie. Good luck blowing everyone away later on."

"Thanks for getting more people to wow," was all Leslie could say. She didn't have much more to say after Ben left, and the others gave her some final speech tips. But by the time she finally had time to review her speech again, the little bit of excitement inside her had grown by leaps and bounds.

For the first time in longer than she remembered, everything was actually breaking for her the way she wanted. There were no mishaps, complications or incidents to dampen her day, and she had no worries about any Ben stuff for once. He had actually found a way to win her new friends' approval, and now he would be part of the campaign just like they wanted. And not only was he too busy to get into trouble with her, he was already pulling his weight on the first day.

Maybe this whole crazy plan could work. Maybe they could just focus on being professional, and let their working relationship be enough for the moment. Maybe it actually would be enough. It was enough to save the department with the Harvest Festival, and if it was enough for this….

And with that, Leslie finally let herself savor what she was about to do. Now she was finally excited and ready to go.

When everything was ready, Adam made the opening introductions, while Leslie stood near him and the podium. She allowed herself to look on at all the acquaintances, citizens, and friends that had come by just for her. And in the front row were the really important ones, like Tom in his official Entertainment 720 tux, a gleaming Ann, a waving Andy, and a less apathetic than usual Ron and April.

Her stomach didn't even turn when he saw Chris nearby. But it did another kind of flip when she saw Ben with the rest of her team, with a knowing and confident smile.

Although Leslie had been telling herself that this would all work out, this was the first time she really let herself believe it. As such, she let herself push out all the negative thoughts and fears from the last several weeks, and brush them aside for another day. She would worry about her secrets, her future, and everything else she hadn't figured out yet after the election. But this wasn't the time or place to think about it anymore.

It was finally time to enjoy her dream come true. It would start with the end of Adam's introduction, as he called for everyone to welcome future Councilwoman Leslie Knope.

With that, the candidate walked up to the podium, as perfectly as she always imagined she would. Once she took the podium, she briefly reached for her speech, before she realized she didn't need to read from it. She already knew it by heart, and could recite it by heart as well.

And with no more hesitation, fear or distractions, Leslie Knope did what she had prepared for her entire adult life- begin her run for office with a big speech.

"Good late morning, my fellow Pawneeans. You all know why you're here by now, and many of you know that this has been a long time coming for me. But just to make it official now, yes, I am running for City Council this year. And I'm going to run against Bill Dexhart while I'm at it."

"I know this won't be easy, since I know from experience how difficult Bill Dexhart can be. But although I could remind you all how annoying, sleazy and gross he is, and question why he keeps winning anyway, I won't do that….at least more than a few more times. Because you already know why he shouldn't be in office, but not everyone else does."

"People keep voting for him because they haven't seen anyone better so far. They don't know that they can have a representative that doesn't get turned on by sex in caves. Heck, I don't even get turned on by sex in showers, and if I did, I wouldn't make that into a scandal! I'd rather make the news for helping to keep Pawnee the greatest town in Indiana, if not planet Earth!"

"But most of you already know that about me. For those who don't, I want to use this campaign to show why you should vote for me, not why you should vote against Dexhart. Other candidates have used the 'I can't be worse than Dexhart' excuse before, and it didn't work. But this election is something I've dreamed about for years, so I won't waste it on a losing strategy."

"Over the next several months, me, my team, and hopefully a lot of you will carry out a better strategy. I've dreamed about nothing else but making Pawnee greater, if that's humanly , animal-y, or alien-ly possible. Now I'm ready to make that a reality, on behalf of all Pawnee, and not just my supporters. If we show them that I will fight for them, that I will make their hopes my hopes, and that I don't need to have secret four-ways to do it, I think they'll be eager to join us."

"It can be done the right way, and I've spent a long time getting ready to prove it. Now that I finally can, there's no way I'm going to mess it up now. I've already given everything to get here, and I do mean everything….but if I'm going to go that last extra mile, I'll need your help. I'd like to think that doing it the right way, giving it my all, being there for Pawnee, and not backing down will be enough. But just in case, a little extra boost from my friends, supporters, and a few newcomers might help too."

"Dexhart and his supporters probably think I'm a lightweight or a weirdo. So to that, I'd say….I might be a weirdo, but I'm a weirdo who cares. And so are all of you, no matter what level of weirdo you are! And Dexhart will feel pretty weird too, once we vote him out of City Council and make it all clean again!"

"So come on, let's get to work on some weird cleaning! I'm Leslie Knope from the Parks Department, and with all of you by my side, I won't take 'Knope' for an answer! Good early afternoon, Pawnee!"

Leslie still wished she hadn't used her last name as a pun to end the speech, since she had actively resisted doing so for years. She had feared that it would make the crowd groan too much to remember to clap. But after a later than usual bedtime at 4:30 a.m., she was more eager to compromise and call it an early morning.

Yet for once, compromise was paying off for her, as no one was groaning after she ended the speech. In fact, they continued clapping for a good two minutes straight. They only stopped when Leslie finally stepped away from the podium- although Andy still waved his fists in the air and whooped for an additional 10 seconds.

But everyone stayed quiet when Adam went into some boring stuff about campaign websites, where people could volunteer, and dates for future speeches. The crowd was at least nice enough to keep looking at him, although Leslie's attention wandered back to her friends.

Ann was still glowing, and was clearly set to give Leslie one of her big best friend hugs at the first opportunity. Andy wound up giving another fist pump in Leslie's direction once he noticed her, and April had to once again put his arm down. Ron was looking bored again, but Leslie already saw during the speech that he was paying attention, which was more than he did for most other political speeches.

Finally, she skipped ahead to glance at Ben, who was going over some sheets and flyers that he'd give to the crowd later. But he instantly stopped looking at them when he saw Leslie's glare. With one of his patented "I'm amazed at Leslie" smiles, he used his free hand to twirl his finger around in a "cuckoo" gesture, since it was the best reference he could think of for the "weirdo" line- which was, of course, originally his line.

That was why Leslie paraphrased that line as the last edit to her speech, hours after Ben left the house last night. She figured it would be a nice surprise for him- but it wasn't like she could actually talk to him tonight to see how surprised he was. In fact, this would be their first night apart in a while, with many more left to come.

But Leslie soon remembered the promise she made to herself, to put this kind of thinking aside. In any case, they would both be able to talk to each other after he got settled into the campaign. They just couldn't be lovey-dovey, or anything that would make people, reporters and secret Dexhart spies suspicious.

With that, Leslie officially bottled away all her fears, doubts and regrets into the pit of her stomach, where they would stay until after Election Day. The time for worrying about secret relationships, and the occasional regret that it had to come to this, had now officially passed. From now on, she and Ben would just be friendly co-workers again, while Candidate Leslie kept her busy enough not to mind at all. Or not mind as much.

But she could allow each Leslie to bask in one more round of cheers from the crowd, and to be mobbed by her other friends afterwards.

And having friend and co-worker Ben shake her hand, and state that "We're- I mean, you're on your way" wasn't too bad either.


	8. Front Lines

The day of Leslie's speech may have been a lifetime in the making, but it was at least a half lifetime in the making for Ben. He thought it would be 10 lifetimes before he found himself connected to a political campaign again, even right up to the night of Leslie's meeting with Barnes. For all his talk in the past about getting responsible enough to run for office again, most of him really never thought it would happen. Of course, Leslie made him forget that on the second day they met, which was a pretty accurate sign of things to come.

Since Leslie was the one running for City Council and not Ben, there was no real reason for him to think this way. But even taking this tiny step back into the front lines was just as major, and just as intimidating. True, he was only a human disaster in office and not during his campaign, yet he ran that campaign before the human disaster label could stick. He was blissfully ignorant at 18, but that was harder to fake at 35- especially since there was much more at stake than just an election this time.

If he was a human disaster this time, he and Leslie's secret would be exposed, and her career would be destroyed. As much as he questioned whether that would really happen, and whether Pawnee really would punish Leslie for her affair when it let Dexhart get away with his, it wasn't worth the hassle to find out. And if he didn't throw himself completely into this election, to replace his lost private time with Leslie, then they would inevitably find out somehow.

So when he left Leslie's house for the last time in the foreseeable future, he knew he had to get right to work. But he wasn't officially part of the team yet, since her new team had to give their approval. He would have the chance to wow them the next morning, yet they didn't sound that wowed by him so far. Otherwise they wouldn't have their concerns about his 'perfection.'

Therefore, he needed to bring a little something extra to make them ignore those concerns. Heck, if he made Leslie ignore her concerns about a secret relationship- or at least made her brush them aside just a little bit- he could impress a bunch of political bigwigs.

With that in mind, he figured if he was going to spread the word about Leslie, there was no time like the present to start. When he got home, he called everyone he and Leslie did business with- at least those who didn't mind late night phone calls as much- and sold them on coming to the speech. For those he didn't call that night, he called them the next morning at work, when he had enough free time.

Technically, he was supposed to do campaign work during his off hours at City Hall. But since he wasn't officially part of the campaign yet, he figured that was enough of a loophole.

Yet by the time he arrived early at Ramset Park, and Leslie's team got a look at the big crowd, he knew he'd be official soon enough. Once he was, he could actually enjoy Leslie's speech- as if he didn't memorize every part of it last night- without any more worries. Nevertheless, her paraphrasing of his "Weirdos who care" line threw him for a loop, albeit not visibly enough to make anyone suspicious.

But they were among supporters in this crowd, especially since he helped invite a couple dozen of them. So he allowed himself to make a weird face at Leslie afterwards, since it was the best "Weirdo" reference he could pantomime. He wished he could go over there and be more verbal with his praise, but that could go on for hours and get a bit too affectionate. So he had to settle for a handshake and one-liner- albeit one he stumbled over- before going back to work.

And that was how Ben Wyatt began his first political campaign in 17 years. He was back in the front lines, trying as hard as he could to avoid the past along the way. But the twist was that he was trying to forget about his other….projects with Leslie, more than he was trying to forget about Ice Town. He never envisioned that Ice Town memories would be a secondary concern if/when he came back, but he supposed it was one of the nicer side effects of this ordeal.

But if he did this right, neither Ice Town nor career-ending affairs would cross his mind at all. So it was time to find other means of distraction.

He began simply enough in the first few weeks, by putting together a band of supporters and volunteers to go door to door with him. Andy eagerly led the way, and only managed to get lost once or twice a day by the end of the month. Tom even lent Detlef Schrempf to the team for a day or two, although Entertainment 720 couldn't afford to lend too many other clients.

But within a month, they had visited most of Pawnee's regular citizens, while Leslie had to make the rounds wooing richer supporters during fundraisers. Ben knew he had the easier job of the two, especially since middle class Dexhart supporters were easier to swing over than rich ones. Yet with Ben going after the average citizen, and Leslie pursing the rich and powerful, it made for a good balance to start things off.

However, Ben was relieved when Leslie's fundraising tour was over, since she could now go back to wooing the common Pawnee citizen, which was her specialty. Given that Ben had already softened them up for her, she would now be able to close the deal in her own unique way.

But first, they had to plan out their route, which is where they found themselves one afternoon in campaign headquarters. The rest of the team was nearby, so they didn't have to worry about being alone. Plus, slowly but surely, they had learned to just talk business with each other, without any awkwardness or verbal gaffes.

Therefore, to the untrained and unknowing eye, they were talking like regular colleagues. But for the first time since the Harvest Festival days, they actually felt like regular colleagues- at least enough to hold back their other feelings. As such, the ideas and proposals were flowing freely between them, although they hadn't hit on a really big idea just yet.

But at the Harvest Festival, all of the brainstorming, exchanges, and occasional speed bumps usually resulted in a gem of an idea. In this case, it was Ben who hit on it, after he took another look at a Pawnee map- and noticed one place he hadn't visited in the last month.

"You know, there is one key demographic we haven't taken a shot at yet. The bordertowns between the human and raccoon parts of Pawnee," Ben pointed out.

"Are you delusional, Ben? I told you too many calzones would screw up your brain! I just hoped the wires wouldn't get crossed for a few more years!" Leslie yelled, although she was proud that her panic over Ben's wiring wasn't too over the top. "The raccoons have their part of town, and we have ours, and they'd think we're outsiders trying to break the truce! That's why Dexhart just calls people near raccoon territory to give them false hope!"

"Exactly! They know Dexhart won't ever really help them out, or give them more protection if rogue raccoons declare war. But it doesn't hurt him because no one else has the guts to visit them. Or brave the raccoon noises, or actually give them hope that someone else has their backs! You would have their backs, wouldn't you?"

"Of course, they are our first line of defense against raccoon invasions! I mean, if we give them any more of the town, we'll starve out before 2050! 2065, tops!" Leslie pointed out.

"So let them know that they are a priority, and visit them to prove it. If they are that important, wouldn't it say something that you know that more than Dexhart does?" At that point, the wheels started turning in Leslie's mind, which let Ben know to just stay quiet, let her take over, and try to keep some of his awe to himself.

"You know, those areas were fun to visit before the invasions started. I'm sure they've scraped up enough raccoon bodies and poop to make it look presentable by now! But if I'm going to visit everyone, I'll need some raccoon food, armor and traps nearby in case some lone nut comes out. Or in case Dexhart sends out a ringer raccoon to throw me off!"

It took a few days to buy the right amount of raccoon food and armor, and to go over contingency plans if a rogue army attacked. But eventually, Leslie was fully protected and able to go on a door to door tour of the raccoon border towns. Fortunately, only a few raccoons came by from their part of town, and only one was semi-rabid.

Aside from that mishap, the visits had just the desired effect that Ben and Leslie wanted. It was the first real blow against Dexhart's leadership- at least in this campaign- and sent the message that Leslie was here to put up a real fight. The pr boost translated to her first real boost in the polls, although she still had a long ways to go to catch Dexhart. But now that she got the ball rolling, it seemed like a real possibility to many for the first time.

Although it was Ben's idea to start off, he insisted that Leslie take the credit, since she was the beneficiary. After all, she filled in gaps and picked out the kind of safety measures that Ben hadn't thought of. But Leslie did credit her team as much as she could for their help, without mentioning Ben in particular. Yet she, and most of her staff, knew who she was really signaling out.

As such, when Ben showed up more at campaign headquarters, and had more to say during meetings, few suspected anything unusual. After all, he had proved his worth, and was pretty much an unofficial adviser to Leslie anyway.

So that's how Ben became a full fledged part of Leslie's staff, right on the front lines. Given his ideas so far, neither Michael, Greg, Adam nor Barnes argued against it, or thought that his passion for the campaign was out of the ordinary. This was a former boy mayor they were dealing with- although it had been 17 years since he acted quite like this. But the staff counted themselves lucky that he was back like this for them, so they didn't nitpick.

Ben wasn't ready to nitpick either, after finishing another lunchtime brainstorming session with Leslie. Still, as they rode back to City Hall separately, the occasional nitpick did scratch his brain a couple of times. But it was nothing new- just thoughts about how he wouldn't see Leslie until their nighttime campaign work, how they'd have nothing safe to talk about until one of them had a new idea, how they couldn't go back to her house to relax together, and how they couldn't for several more months. Those kind of old habits.

Yet those thoughts hadn't been completely erased yet because he still had too much down time. That was it. He would have to find some long numbers to crunch back at City Hall to fix that, or maybe he could accompany Chris on one of his light 5Ks for once.

Yes. If working closely, but not closely enough, on Leslie's campaign hadn't killed those thoughts yet, those things would have to get him…..a little bit closer.


	9. Pervert Powers

After making the rounds in fundraisers, and in door to door stops near raccoon country, Leslie's staff decided it was time for a media blitz. Of course, Leslie made sure not to use those exact words while Ben was around, given the last media tour he was a part of. Yet since he wouldn't be a part of any interviews this time, it was easier for him to handle.

To take advantage of her new PR momentum, Leslie would blitz through the entire Pawnee morning show circuit. The best place to start was _Pawnee Today_, if only to get Joan Callamezzo out of the way early. Given Leslie's crazy- and ratings friendly- history with that show, Joan pretty much called dibs on the first interview a second in.

Fortunately, since Ben was now a trusted member of the campaign crew, no one batted an eye when he offered to come with her for supervision. But Leslie didn't need to be supervised or coached, since she knew how to handle Joan by now. Ben just had to be there in person when she showed her up again- even if she didn't have to remove her pants this time.

So Ben stood in front of the _Pawnee Today _stage the next morning, watching Leslie answer Joan's questions about whether she got raccoon rabies. By the third time she actually answered no, Joan seemed to reluctantly be convinced. Ben had figured it would take five or six denials for Joan to back off, but Leslie had cornered her like a pro.

As Joan tried to pick out her next line of questions/accusations, Ben almost let himself reflect on how this was kind of like a date for him and Leslie, or as close to a date as they could have. But he _almost _let himself think that, which was a vast improvement from last month. As long as that was the case, then thoughts like that one couldn't do much harm. Therefore, admiring Leslie for a bit longer wouldn't do much harm either, especially with that confident smirk she had at Joan.

"She's doing quite well, isn't she?"

Ben would normally turn to acknowledge whoever said that, but he wanted to keep admiring Leslie for a few more seconds, so he wouldn't get tempted the rest of the day. "Yes, extremely," he still managed to say without turning his head, just to show he wasn't being that rude. In any case, Ben soon had to pay attention to Joan, after she sadly started talking again.

"All right, fortunately the real fireworks just arrived. As you and our audience know, Leslie, one of your….more unique moments on this show was with your opponent, Councilman Dexhart."

Ben scoffed, figuring that Joan would bring that up, in her desperation for rating-friendly madness. As such, he finally broke his concentration and turned to see who was next to him.

Then he realized the exact reason why the phrase "ignorance is bliss" was so popular. And if he hadn't seen the proof, Joan was spelling it out for him, Leslie and her audience.

"It's been a while since that graphic display, but now you two are together again! And here he is to welcome you back himself, Councilman Bill Dexhart!"

With that, Bill Dexhart stepped away from Ben's side, and headed over to the empty seat next to Leslie's.

Leslie's shock at this ambush was so strong, she also couldn't bring herself to look over at Dexhart at first. She could only focus on Ben for a second, as he looked similarly shocked and helpless. But there was nothing either of them could do about it. Leslie knew she'd actually have to see Dexhart in person again at some point- yet she thought she'd have time to prepare and steel herself for his sick comments.

"Joan, Deputy Director Knope, always a pleasure." Okay, that comment wasn't completely sick. That gave Leslie time to at least compose herself enough to look at him.

"All right, Dexhart and Knope, together again on _Pawnee Today_!" Joan responded. "This is quite a TV event….even though I couldn't spoil it early and ruin the surprise. But we'll have enough fireworks now to make up for the secret keeping, right?"

So that was Dexhart's game. He probably wanted her flustered enough to take her pants off again, as if he didn't get enough peeks last time. Maybe having Ben there would make her more self conscious this time- or maybe he'd wind up taking his own pants off. Either option had its good and bad points.

"Well, there's already been a few fireworks in this campaign. Ms. Knope has certainly got people talking all sort of things, about how she might have a real chance and all. But I'm here to make sure we don't get all carried away just yet."

"And how might we be getting carried away, exactly?" Leslie asked, now that she had her faculties completely back online.

"You said it yourself, Leslie. You said you didn't want to make this campaign about my faults, and I commend you. Everyone knows my faults, and they've all made up their minds about me one way or the other. But those who are against me shouldn't be so anxious to get rid of me that they elect the wrong person."

So Dexhart wasn't going for the gross out factor this time. But Leslie had a feeling that she might wind up preferring that before long.

"I'm here to ask if Leslie Knope is really the best possible person to replace me. And for all of her bravery against the raccoon menace, I still have my doubts. Can we trust someone who's had a history of embarrassing, almost sitcom-ish mishaps during her career, and who set a man's head on fire during Pawnee's darkest hour?"

"That was planned, sir!" Leslie stated before she could catch herself. "And my history is-" but she stopped herself before she could attack Dexhart's own history. After all, she vowed that attacking him would not be a big part of her campaign, no matter how tempting. But it appeared that Dexhart was using that against her now, in front of the entire mid-morning audience.

"It is one of inexperience, is what it is. Putting on festivals and being graphic on television isn't the same as being on City Council. And Pawnee can't afford to elect someone who doesn't know the difference. We're just recovering from the greatest budget crisis of all time, which was caused in part by Ms. Knope's own budget-busting department!"

Now Leslie had more solid ground to defend herself. "You forgot the part where this budget-busting department helped put Pawnee back in business again! Whatever mistakes we made, we made sure that they won't ever be made again. Not everyone can make that promise and keep it, but I'm willing to make it anyway."

Technically that was a Dexhart dig, but it was subtle enough to not get her in trouble. It wasn't quite enough to deter Dexhart, however. "And how can you make that promise when you keep angering our richest citizens? You've regularly tried to stop Sweetums and the Newport family from making Pawnee a richer and happier place to live. How can we avoid further financial ruin without trusting the Newports, and how can we be happy if you nitpick about delicious Sweetums food, and depressing old gazebos? No one wants a pinko stick in the mud representing them, Leslie."

That kind of creative name calling wasn't nearly as extensive, or R-rated, as the stuff Leslie was thinking about Dexhart right now. But somehow, she remembered that although Dexhart could get away with that, she still couldn't- not if she wanted to show she was better than that. And being better was her only hope, especially since Dexhart had Newport money on his side.

So Leslie regrouped herself and decided to make a more logical rebuttal- at least more logical than calling Dexhart a crazy sexist poopface.

"You're right, Councilman, I have no legislative experience. But neither did you when you first got elected, and neither did a lot of our great leaders. Yet we took a risk on them and it paid off, so who's to say it wouldn't pay off with me? All I'm doing is making my case that voters should take a risk, and a lot of them are already ready to. But I'm going to keep reaching out to everyone else who isn't convinced yet, just as I'm going to reach out to everyone if I get elected. Even if it's people I've disagreed with in the past, like the Newports, or your other supporters….even those you only cared enough about to call over the phone every election year."

"I had to just call them because I wasn't suicidal!" Dexhart said, now a little flustered himself.

"I wasn't suicidal, yet I went near raccoon border town anyway, because I wanted them to know they mattered. You can call that 'pinko stick in the mud' stuff, but I don't think everyone would use those words. And I trust the great people of Pawnee to know the difference."

"Well….be that as it may, Ms. Knope….I trust them to know your less than stellar record before your lucky, out-of-nowhere successes," Dexhart retaliated.

"So I made some comical mistakes before, I'll probably make at least 20 of them a year. But I always learn from them, and I have the best friends and partners to bail me out of it when I can't do it myself. Heck, if we didn't let our leaders make up for mistakes and get better from them, there might not be a City Council! Are you saying they shouldn't get to learn from mistakes, Councilman?"

Now that was the right kind of dig, since it trapped Dexhart with his own words. But he didn't seem to get that right away. "I never said that, of course they can! But you're not a Councilwoman, you haven't earned that right yet!"

"You admitted our leaders could, and that applies to every leader from every political department, not just City Council! It's an all or nothing thing, so don't hold me to a different standard just because I'm running against you! I'm not holding you to one, even though I could, and even though everyone else would!"

With that, Leslie easily had her closing sound bite. "That's the same kind of commitment to change I'll bring to City Council….no matter how unbelievably hard it is to stick to it. So I guess I should thank you for testing it today and really helping me out, Councilman."

Dexhart didn't say "You're welcome" to Leslie- and in fact, had pretty much nothing else to say either. But his stammering did run out the clock before Joan finally spoke up. "Well, that's all the time we have for this segment. It certainly was a…..spirited rematch, though not as good as the original….and not good enough to hold off promoting it last night. So that's another massive blow for the Councilman, for all you voters keeping score."

That pretty much wrapped up the win for Leslie, now that Joan was too mad at Dexhart to lend him much support from here on in. But she kept herself from smiling more triumphantly than usual, while Joan wrapped up the segment. She even stayed professional after they went to commercial, as she thanked Joan and saw Dexhart leave the stage without a word. Yet once she got off stage, she finally let her face split open, after finally seeing Ben's face do the same.

"You…..I shouldn't be that surprised by now, but you just….huh. You nailed him worse than he….nailed things. Sorry I got crude there, but I'm just….wow," Ben finally trailed off.

"I know, wow, right? And I did it without any nudity!" Leslie cheered. "If there was a curse around Pawnee Today, it would be taking that big time! Just like Dexhart makes other people take that! Heck, I don't even care that I went blue now too!"

There weren't many cares for both Leslie and Ben at that moment, as they stopped stumbling through their dirty words and just high fived each other. But for all their excitement, they could still hear four words behind them afterwards.

"You two are screwing."

Although Dexhart had left the set, he didn't leave the building. In fact, he was right behind Leslie and Ben, although they just now noticed him- and his words. In case they didn't, he was helpful enough to repeat them. "You two are screwing. Or at least 'nailing' as you put it."

"What? Councilman, you….where do you get such ideas? Your dirty brain, obviously, but what else….it's your dirty hair, isn't it?" Leslie asked. Although she wasn't stumbling in denial as much as she was when Ron found out, her training could only do so much.

"My dirty eyes, actually. I know enough about these things to know, as you well know," Dexhart bragged.

"Councilman, we were just high fiving. Assuming….anything else is just irrational," Ben argued.

"I said I know enough about these things to know. And this is….quite an interesting thing to know about. Thank you for helping me out, Deputy Director and Assistant City Manager."

Dexhart then took his leave from the building with a chuckle, which didn't seem possible a minute ago. But now he had a sure fire way to turn defeat into crushing victory. The man who made up completely untrue rumors about Leslie's sex life, and still made everyone believe them despite no real evidence, now had the chance to ruin her with the truth, despite no real evidence. Yet if he made Pawnee believe lies, he could make them believe the truth- and now had more than enough incentive to ruin Leslie and her campaign after her little performance.

All of those thoughts and fears were paralyzing Leslie's brain, although it was too paralyzed to make her say any of them.

All she could say was "Damn your pervert powers, Dexhart!" although it was probably for the best that he couldn't hear that revealing curse.


	10. False Confession

"Oh, God, okay, let's think, think, think! Who's he gonna tell, Joan? She's not gonna listen to him after he didn't make me get nude on camera! But he's still got the Pawnee Sun in his death grip, they can take or leave nudity! Or even proof! But what if he's expecting us to expect he'll use the Sun? Oh God, he's gotten much more crafty since last time! That new campaign manager Rob probably had something to do with that or something!"

Leslie pretty much rambled from there for the next few minutes outside the Pawnee Today studio. Even though people would have been more suspicious of her if they saw her like that, she was too panicked to notice. For Ben's part, he just let her go on and get it out of her system, while he did his own quieter brainstorming.

It was easier for him to do, since he wasn't as nervous as Leslie. In fact, a part of him felt something that he wouldn't dare to reveal to Leslie. It felt relieved.

If they went a certain way on this, the sneaking around, schedules, and carefully managed time together would be over. They could have a real relationship at long last, and if they went a certain way, it wouldn't kill their careers. Maybe it would kill Ben's for a while, but he was caring less and less about that with every passing day. And logically, there was no way it should kill Leslie's, because Pawnee couldn't just not forgive her, after letting Dexhart slide for so many years.

Pawnee was odd and wacky much of the time, but it wasn't stupid or hypocritical- at least not as much as Ben thought it was at first. Surely, enough people would back Leslie up, determine that Dexhart was just lashing out after losing the debate, realize this wasn't really that tawdry, and figure out that this one mistake didn't outweigh Leslie's millions of successes. After over a year here, Ben knew enough about Pawnee to trust it to do the right thing.

But after a lifetime here, Leslie almost certainly did not. And that outweighed everything.

Ben figured that Leslie wouldn't see the upside to this, and her panic right now was proving it. Even if this only cost her the Parks job, and not the election, she would be too distraught to continue on. And most likely, she wouldn't want to be around the man who helped cost her her dream job, and her future dream job at City Council. After losing all that, having a real, open relationship would hardly make up for it, and neither she nor Ann nor anyone else would probably convince her otherwise.

Even if it was possible to convince Leslie, there was no way it could happen now, or at any time before Dexhart spilled the beans. So Ben had only one option- be distraught along with her, and try to think of a way to keep the secret anyway. After all, if he didn't think of something good before it got out, Leslie would either dump him in a last-ditch cover up, or be too angry at their whole relationship to keep it going. Normal Leslie would never be that harsh, but frantic Leslie was a tad more unpredictable, and needed to be kept at bay.

Unfortunately, Dexhart had been so badly beaten on the show, there'd be no stopping him from spoiling their secret and changing the headlines. All they could probably do was try and make sure the fallout wouldn't be too horrific.

However, before Ben threw himself into the campaign, he had thought up some plans in case the worst happened. And maybe there was one specific idea that could work…..although it would be quite risky in the long run. He waited a few more seconds for Leslie to catch her breath before he laid it out.

"Look Leslie, all those ideas sound…..original. But we can do something without hiding out in Canada and getting an ice fishing license. Maybe we can't stop Dexhart from talking…..but we could at least find a way to keep our regular jobs."

"How? Do we erase everyone's memory at the Pawnee Sun after Dexhart talks to them?" Leslie inquired. "Is there some memory erasing guy you know back in Minnesota?"

"We won't need him," Ben said sarcastically, although that may not have been the best tone. Yet what he had to say next would make Leslie forget that. "We can tell Chris instead."

"What? Ben, did Dexhart….give you anything to mess with your brain before he left?"

"I mean we tell Chris….without actually _telling _Chris." Leslie didn't accuse Ben of being on drugs after that, but she was still quite confused. "Come on, I'll try to explain better on the way to his office," Ben offered.

It took a while, but Leslie eventually understood the plan by the time they returned to City Hall. But that still didn't mean she was any less nervous, although she was hiding it a bit better. Yet that got harder the closer they got to Chris's office.

Somehow, Leslie managed to remember that she stood up to Dexhart and Joan just an hour ago, and could do the same with Chris. But the goal wasn't to antagonize Chris, and the stakes were a lot higher than they were at _Pawnee Today_. However, this was Ben's idea, and Ben was the one taking the lead on this one. The feminist in her was quite offended, yet she didn't have the time or nerves to listen to her for once- it's not like she was coming up with anything better.

Still, that didn't really say a lot, since no parts of her had anything better. All they could do was something that Leslie had fought tooth and nail not to do for months, so that said something. As such, when they entered Chris's office and he greeted them with a smile, his wide smile never looked more intimidating.

"Leslie, congratulations for being on fire on Pawnee Today! You must have literally gotten five or ten thousand new voters from that performance! Wasn't she something, Ben?" Chris rhetorically asked.

"Very much so. So much so that I gave her a high five afterwards," Ben began. "And that's….when Councilman Dexhart assumed something he shouldn't have."

If Leslie could still steel her emotions, she brought herself to do so at this moment of truth.

"Dexhart wrongly assumes that me and Leslie are sleeping together, and violating your rule. We aren't, but we're afraid he's going to make everyone believe we are, so it kills her campaign. That's why we wanted you to know right now that it isn't true, before he starts lying to everyone."

"Lying, that's what he does, yes sir!" was all Leslie could say to add on. But she was quicker to say anything than Chris was, at the least.

"I….I am stunned. Would he really do that to you? Make up these kind of insane lies?" Chris questioned.

"It wouldn't be beneath him. He knows that Leslie's gaining on him, so he's getting desperate to hurt her before it gets worse. Trust me, it's a common trick in these campaigns. It certainly happened to me more than once," Ben recalled.

"Yep, trust him, he's the expert!" Leslie called out to try and stay in the conversation.

"Well, you certainly are a better expert than me, so I will trust you," Chris assured. "But this kind of lie is just ludicrous. You two are too much of a dynamic friend and work duo to work as lovers, even if my rules didn't forbid it! Would people really believe that you two are….dynamic in that way?"

"Dexhart made people think that Leslie and Ann were…dynamic in that way two Christmas's ago, just to distract from his own scandals. If it worked for a while then, it might now, especially since she has more to lose," Ben answered.

"Yep, I'm about set to be a big loser!" Leslie pointed out, before deciding she should probably stay quiet if that was the best she had.

"Well, that is just….completely not nice. In fact, I'm going to tell him so right now before he slanders you!" Although Chris's offer sounded like a solution, Leslie and Ben knew Dexhart wouldn't listen to him- and that even bringing it up would make it worse. So they both called out "No!" just as Chris reached for his phone, then Leslie let Ben take it from there again.

"He probably won't listen to you, anyway. Besides, there's still a slim chance he might not run with this. So there's no sense talking about it and letting it leak until then. But if he does start lying about us…..can we count on you to have our backs and not fire us?"

With that, Chris put down the phone and almost looked ready to tear up. "There are…..literally no backs in this universe I will have more gladly than yours. I don't care if they're scandal ridden, dirty from political mud, or bare, those bare backs will be defended by me until the end!"

For once, Chris's zealous, somewhat oblivious positive reassurances were actually reassuring, which was a rare break. But of course, he had to keep talking after that. "Of course, if he's actually telling the truth and you two are together, it would be another story. Especially after you just told me you aren't. But in that case, it's a good thing he's a liar, isn't it?"

Somehow, Leslie prevented her laughter from sounding too forced. "Yep, that's the one good thing about him lying, all right!"

"Good indeed," Ben concurred. "So Chris, we're all clear? You won't say a word about this now, but you'll have lots of good words if Dexhart slanders us, right?"

"Only the very best for my honest and true slandered friends," Chris promised. Since he was starting to lay it on too thick- and more than usual- Leslie and Ben just briefly thanked him once more and took their leave, while they were barely ahead.

"Well, this might actually work," Ben said when they were far enough from Chris's office. "Even if Dexhart makes the election harder, you'll still have your job, and maybe Chris will actually convince people he's lying. I'm sure Pawnee knows that he wouldn't defend us if _we_ were lying."

"But _we _are," Leslie whispered. "And the second he finds out, _we _will be fired for sure! That's why he really can never find out now, never never or even ever!"

Since Leslie was still in damage control mode, she didn't have time to realize the implications of that statement. Mainly, the fact that if she never ever wanted Chris to find out, then she never ever wanted her relationship to be in the open. As much as they were both trying to keep it a secret, there was still hope that they could be open someday- but Leslie didn't sound like she had that now, or even wanted to have it.

But she still didn't realize that, since she was still whispering her damage control ideas. "This is probably what we get for letting down our guard like that. I mean, we can't even high-five without making it obvious! Maybe if we get back to shutdown mode, and just stop working so close together right now, it'll give Dexhart time to think he was imagining things."

"I don't think he really cares if he was imagining things or not," Ben pointed out.

"But we can't take that chance!" Leslie whispered as loud as she could without getting noticed. "He can't get any more inspiration to talk about us, and he won't if he doesn't see us together. And we can't work close together either, or else it'll probably get back to him!"

"So we're going to distance ourselves even more because of what he _might _think or say?" Ben now had to whisper himself for fear of getting loud.

"It's not like anything else has a real chance to work, is there?" Leslie asked, laying it on a bit thick herself. But she was still in her little panic bubble, so thickness was just another element that couldn't pop it.

"You're right. I didn't think of it that way, but you are right. I'll run my ideas through Adam and let him bring them up with you now. Once Dexhart exposes us or stops making us think he will, we'll brainstorm together then….whenever that may be."

And although Ben did sound completely professional, and didn't outwardly give signs of being disappointed, saddened or upset, the words were still enough to burst Leslie's bubble- albeit a few seconds after he headed back to his office.

But over the next few weeks, Leslie could have been excused for thinking that it worked all along- because Dexhart didn't say a word about her or Ben to the press. Although Leslie had made up new ground after the interview, and was now in full fledged striking distance, Dexhart didn't change the headlines by alleging any affair. Still, the fear that he would, and was just biding his time to reveal it later, kept Leslie and Ben from shortening their newfound distance from each other.

Although they still brainstormed together, it wasn't in one-on-one sessions anymore, as Ben actually had to interact with people other than Leslie now. Even those other people briefly found it weird that Leslie wasn't relying on Ben as much anymore. But those who were relieved to have more input brushed it aside, so as not to press their luck.

Despite the fact that Leslie hadn't made any gigantic gains in the polls since the interview- and would need to start making them soon- no one saw anything suspicious in it. No one wondered what was missing now, or saw anything deeper in why Leslie and Ben weren't as on fire as they were just three weeks earlier.

Somehow, that didn't lessen Leslie's fears as much as she might have thought three weeks ago.


	11. Venting

Not being able to work closely with Leslie had some drawbacks for Ben. Aside from the obvious, one key difference was that he found it a little harder to work around the clock. Without Leslie to bounce ideas around with, he had to drag out brainstorming sessions with the other staffers- and they had better things to do than just keep Ben busy.

As such, he actually had to go home by 10 p.m. one night, and didn't have too much to work on when he got home. Therefore, he was actually in bed by 11 p.m., unable to sleep early, and alone with his thoughts. And being alone with his thoughts, problems and frustrations was exactly what he wanted to avoid when he joined the campaign.

So after a half hour of trying to tune out his thoughts, he finally got up to get something to drink or eat- whatever would help him sleep easier first. When he got to the living room, he saw April watching TV on the floor- and his brain finally quieted down enough to let him hear the TV as well.

"Where's Andy?" Ben asked, running the risk of bothering April.

"He went out to rehearse new lyrics for Leslie's campaign song. Didn't you hear him loudly thinking them up?" April asked without bothering to look at Ben. But Ben was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to have heard Andy's improv, so he figured they were even.

"I guess I didn't. So, um, how come you're not watching them rehearse? You are their manager, after all."

"I'm not the kind of manager that goes out after 11 p.m. for work. I had that written down in my contract," April reminded him. Ben took her word for it, then went to the kitchen to get food and drinks. Since he wasn't in a hurry to get back to his bedroom, and since he knew better than to bother April again, he just stood around and ate and drank.

"I'm not turning on any nerd movies, so you can go back to your room now," April finally called out.

"That's okay, watch what you want. I'm in no hurry to go to bed," Ben reassured.

"Okay, then go to your room and call Leslie, just keep it down."

"We, um, we don't have any campaign stuff to go over, so that won't be necessary," Ben managed to respond.

"Then call her for secret girlfriend stuff. Just keep that _way _down."

Although Ben was sleepless and worn out from trying not to think, he still had more than enough energy to stammer through a denial- not that this was a good thing. "What secret girlfriend….I mean, she's not….where do you imagine these things, really?"

"I guess I 'imagined' Andy telling me after I 'imagined' you butt-dialing me the night before Leslie's first speech. Imagine that."

"Ugh, I knew I forgot to check something that night-" Ben grumbled out before he caught himself. Apparently he didn't have enough energy to catch mistakes like that at this hour. As if he had a chance to convince April she was mistaken- and at least they probably traumatized her with sentiment instead of role playing.

"So go talk to her and double check everything first this time," April went on.

"I….I can't. I'm supposed to keep my distance from her right now, so I can't talk to her about this," Ben explained, now that he could be a little more open with his problems, albeit not too open.

"Then call Ann or something, she's into touchy-feely Leslie stuff as much as you are."

"I couldn't do that. She's probably picking Leslie up and keeping her on track….I can't add my problems to her workload. There's no possible way I can repay her for her help, and having her hear my complaints won't cut it. Plus there's no way I'm going to Ron, Leslie's mom or Dexhart about this." With that, Ben's temporary relief was quickly snuffed out. "There's no one I can really talk to about anything, so I'll just have to hold it in until after the election, at the earliest. But I promise I'll do it quietly in my room for the rest of the night."

So Ben started making his retreat to his room, ready to think about how badly Leslie would react if she found out April knew. But it seems that Andy really didn't spill anything until April got butt-dialed, so if he could keep the secret that long, then perhaps April could be trusted. Of course, Leslie probably wouldn't think of it quite that way.

"You know, you're lucky I don't care." Somehow, Ben managed to hear that before his thoughts blocked everything out again. He even managed to turn around and notice that April was looking at him now. "Sorry?"

"I said you're lucky I don't care. I just tune you guys out whenever you're being boring or lame, which is all the time. That's why I'm so good at working for Ron. You could be going on and on and letting out all your secrets, and I wouldn't hear a word. But that's kind of a win-win. I get to think about more interesting stuff, and the other guy doesn't have to keep everything inside before he explodes and makes a mess in the living room."

Although it took Ben months to decipher Leslie's language, the likes of April were still harder to translate. But the more he went through the April-ese in that statement, the more it started to sound suspicious in English.

"I mean, if I can tune Leslie and Andy out like that and let them get their craziness out, it can probably work on anyone. Even when I should be trying to sleep."

That sounded a little more like English- and a little more like something else entirely. "Wait, are you giving me permission to…." Ben trailed off, not wanting to jinx this seemingly impossible opportunity April was hopefully hinting at.

"I don't know what you think I'm giving permission for. I'm not listening, remember? And I've probably only got a half-hour to not listen by myself, so there you go."

There was still a little wiggle room on how to interpret that, so Ben was cautious about interpreting it the way he wanted to. But considering all the risks he hadn't taken, and was regretting that he hadn't, not acting on this one would probably be hypocritical. Especially when he really, really needed to let out his feelings and conflicted thoughts to someone- even an apathetic roommate who was acting sympathetic for once.

"Well, it is a shame that no one's listening. If they were, then maybe they could help me figure out what to do about Dexhart, or my secret relationship, or how I don't like keeping secrets as much as others do. I know it's necessary to do it, but I'm afraid that I hate that much less than others do. I mean, much less than Leslie does. See, even when it's safe, I have to be cryptic, that's what this is doing to me!"

"And it really didn't have to be this way. I mean, I was seconds away from resigning, forcing Chris not to fire Leslie, and being free to be together with her! But I had to dream that up on the same night they let her run for City Council, and now it's too late. Sometimes I even wonder why it should have been too late, cause I could resign and make Chris keep Leslie around right now! Even if Dexhart made it a scandal then, I know me and Leslie are creative and popular enough to get around that, even if Leslie doesn't!"

"She'd probably say that it's not just about her, and that she doesn't want me to lose a job I love too. But the thing is….I hate being city manager now. That job saved me and let me stay with Leslie, and I still hate it. I hate it more than I ever hated auditing towns and getting death threats, and I _hated _that! But that's what this whole thing has done! My real job is being on Leslie's campaign stuff, and I'm just killing time and trying not to be bored or distracted at City Hall! I can't put my heart in a job that's keeping me from being with someone I love, even if Leslie can!"

By now, Ben was on such a roll that he didn't noticed how he said he loved Leslie out loud. At that point, he was too busy letting out all the other things he had been keeping inside for months. Things like more detail on how he was ready to resign before William Barnes's visit, how he struggled to keep his mind off everything, how it was unfair that Dexhart was intimidating them, and more on how he was more willing to come forward than Leslie was.

"Leslie has to understand that I don't care about my regular job anymore, or working in government! All I want to do is quit, work for her, and actually do things with her again! She's just so paranoid that she won't admit she wants that too, but I know I can get through to her if she'll let me! And if she doesn't want that, she should tell me now, regardless of who might be watching and whether Dexhart has bugged something!"

"In fact, I'm going to go there right now! She has to know that she won't lose everything if she lets me come forward, because I won't let that happen! That it's okay to lose a job for love, even though no one we know would let her lose it for that long! That should be enough for her to go public and realize that anything else she lost would just be temporary, but she needs to know that right now! Because I can't hide that from her anymore!"

With that, Ben marched out of the house, while April didn't move an inch, like she hadn't for the last 20 minutes straight. She didn't even budge when Ben came back into the house 10 seconds later. "So I just figured out the great flaw to that plan. Namely that I'm a total psychopath."

Ben sank to his knees before falling on his face in exhaustion. But since he sank to his knees first, the fall didn't hurt as much, so at least one tiny thing went right. Yet it was only that one tiny thing.

"I know I'm being irrational….that was starting to be a good thing when I was around her. But without her around, my insanity's not fun anymore. I know it'll probably kill Leslie's chances if we're outed, and I know that when we are….she'll never want to see me again. Heck, I came up with the idea to lie to Chris mainly because of that. But now my Leslie withdrawal is going so bad, I actually thought about doing the one thing that'll cost me her forever."

"So I've gotta stay sane enough to remember that when it comes down to me against her hopes and dreams, I'm always going to place second. And I just want to be a closer second….but I can't be that greedy. I have no right to be, and that's how it has to stay."

Finally, Ben gathered up enough strength to get on his feet, and prepare himself to walk back to his room. Yet for the second time that night, words from April stopped him- as if it wasn't shocking enough that it happened once. "It's just as well, cause you don't really know Leslie anyway."

"I don't know what now?" Ben inquired, almost ready to forget about April's support up to that point, thanks to that seeming insult.

"I mean, if you knew her, you'd know she isn't that selfish. She's always putting everyone else above herself and what she wants. Do you think she would have bugged you that much not to fire us if she was just worried about her own job? If she was, it wouldn't have worked and you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, would you?"

This probably wasn't the ideal time to remind Ben how close he came to firing Leslie and never falling for her. Yet there was an underlying…..reassurance behind that reminder. "No….I guess I wouldn't be."

"Then there you go. It takes her a while sometimes, but she always puts other people first, no matter what it does to her. That's why you're not the only one that loves her, and that's why she's gonna pick you when this thing goes haywire."

This time, Ben brushed aside the reminder that it probably would go haywire, and focused on the nicer stuff. At least until his guilt returned. "But half of me doesn't want her to pick me…..not when I'm in the way of her changing this town and the world."

"Well, too bad, because she's gonna do it anyway. Stop feeling bad about it and start feeling lucky, like a normal person! I've already gotta live with one weirdo around here."

Putting Ben on par with Andy was probably a stretch, since Ben was only super weird once in a while. But those moments were more than enough to bridge the gap- especially when he failed to take Leslie's selflessness and compassion into account. Without her around so much, it was sadly too easy to forget that this distance wasn't because she didn't care about him. Even if it wasn't as much as he cared about her, the mere fact that she did care was almost enough of a lift. And as long as he willed himself not to catastrophically screw up, that's how it would stay- and that was far far better than nothing.

This was a messed up situation, but whining about what he didn't have, and not valuing what he still did- and would probably have again soon if nothing else went wrong- wasn't helping. He just forgot it because he didn't have Leslie, or any other confidant, to remind him.

But now that he had one for at least a night, it made him realize that although he was the luckiest man in Pawnee, Andy was probably a close second. "Thanks April…..it means a lot to me that you don't listen or care."

"Okay, I'm not listening for real now, so go away. Andy's gonna be back soon, and I want it to be quiet for at least a few minutes tonight, got it?" The old April was definitely back, so Ben finally went to his room, out of fear for ticking her off and out of thanks to the more helpful April.

Ben plopped back into his bed at last a few seconds later, content that he had better new thoughts to pass the time. In fact, now that some of these thoughts were comforting, he might have a chance to sleep before 2 a.m.

Naturally when that line of thinking came up, his cell phone rang.

Unbeknownst to Ben, Leslie was running through her own conflicted thoughts back at her house minutes earlier. But she didn't have anyone to bounce them off of, since she had given Ann the night off. Yet she didn't need another person to make her see why she was upset.

Despite her various mistakes and oblivious blunders over the years, Leslie did usually realize where she went wrong rather quick. As such, once she decided to keep her distance from Ben, she figured out the flaws in that plan within minutes. The fact that Dexhart hadn't actually exposed them after all only made it worse, and campaign work could only disguise it for so long.

Now that it couldn't, the idiocy of being deathly afraid of Dexhart, and pushing Ben away because of it, was even clearer. It didn't escape her that she hadn't made a big move in the polls since she stopped working closely with Ben. It also didn't escape her that Ben wasn't doing too well with it, at least when she felt brave enough to look closely at him.

Although they stopped being intimate when the campaign started, these last few weeks were the first time Leslie really felt his absence. It was necessary at the time, of course, but keeping it up for this long was getting ridiculous. Besides, either Dexhart forgot it by now, or was going to expose them later on- either way, getting spotted within three feet of each other wouldn't change anything. At least as long as they stuck to their no-secret romance rules, and they were working just fine until that interview.

She needed to make things right, and for a screw-up like this, it called for an above-and-beyond gesture. At least not above-and-beyond enough to get them exposed by anyone else. And with three phone calls, she put her gesture into mention.

1: "Hello, Adam? This is Leslie Knope from the City Council campaign. I'm just letting you know that I'm not coming in tomorrow. You probably won't burn the building down if I'm not at lunch or dinner for one day, so good luck proving me right!"

2: "Hello, Chris? This is Leslie Knope from the Parks Department. When you see Ron tomorrow, could you tell him I won't be coming in for the day? I'd tell him myself, but I don't have his home number, even after seven years of research! Don't worry, I'll get it before my decade deadline!"

And 3: "Hello, Ben? This is Leslie Knope. I'm going to need you to call Adam and Chris….probably in a half-hour so they don't get suspicious. Oh, why, you ask? Because I'd like you to tell them you're taking the day off, please."


	12. Day Off

Ramset Park was far from a secret meeting place. In fact, that's what made it such a good location for Leslie's opening campaign speech. Yet Leslie brought herself to set up her early morning meeting with Ben there anyway. After all, if she couldn't get through being seen in public with him here, the rest of the apology would be a bust.

Leslie kept reminding herself of that, and that their cover stories had been set up, while she waited for Ben to arrive. It was hard to wait, partly because it was past 8 a.m. She wasn't well into work by then, so she was actually bored for once. She wondered how other people stayed awake without working at 8 a.m., before Ben finally showed himself at 8:15.

"Well, I'm here to play hooky with you," Ben tried to joke. "I never pegged you as the hooky type….especially now."

"I know, I almost brought my idea diary in case I couldn't go cold turkey!" Leslie semi-joked. "But then this wouldn't work too well."

"What wouldn't work, exactly?" Leslie steeled herself to give her prepared answer.

"The thing is, I make a lot of mistakes sometimes. So do you, but the difference is I can still speak in complete sentences when I screw up. But they're pretty dumb sentences, like how we need to steer clear of each other...as if we hadn't been doing that already."

"It wasn't your best sentence, I guess," Ben stated cautiously. "What made you realize that now?"

"That's the only thing. When I make mistakes, I usually don't think straight. If I had, I'd have remembered that Dexhart isn't what we like to call….smart. If he was, he wouldn't have so many sex scandals, and he would have exposed us that day. But he didn't, and I let myself get paranoid over an idiot anyway."

"He isn't the best thinker, I guess," Ben peppered in, although he was willing to let Leslie do most of the talking.

"But here's the good thing. When I finally realize I screw up, I get smart again….smart enough to make up for being dumb. Then I know how to make it up to people I was dumb to….in ways like spending an entire day off together. So consider the next 16 hours my genius apology."

"It sounds genius so far," Ben admitted. "But what do you mean by spending the day…._together?_"

"Well, we can't do anything with our lips, that still goes without saying," Leslie informed, before realizing she could have phrased that better. So she went to make a quick recovery. "But we can do lots of other stuff that isn't work related! We couldn't do that when the campaign started, but I think we can drop it for one day and still be fine now!"

Leslie took a breath before she went to prove her point, by standing right in front of Ben and staying in place. After they stayed perfectly still for 10 seconds, she finally spoke out "See? We're not jumping all over each other now! If that isn't progress, what is?"

"Well, we were already getting good at that," Ben pointed out, with his voice just the tiniest bit shaky. "But what happens if we do more than just stand here?"

"I think we can handle it. We did it real well until last month, so that's why we've earned this treat."

"We did well because we just talked about the campaign. We haven't tested ourselves on….non-campaign activities."

"Come on, Ben, I'm supposed to be the nervous one, remember? So what does it say to you that I'm ready to handle a normal day together?"

Leslie knew that it said a lot, which was why she was ignored the knot in her stomach as best she could. But it loosened up a little when Ben replied "It says a lot of loud and clear stuff, actually. Stuff I'm pretty relieved to hear, too."

With that, the two finally smiled without looking so awkward and nervous about it. "So what are we going to hear today, then?" Ben asked.

"Well, we've got a few hours to tour the parks until lunch at J.J's. How about you tell me about your month without me, I tell you about mine, and we save the other personal campaign stories for lunch? But we should save the really good ones for dinner, just in case."

"Ooh, that's too bad, I had some good ones to start off. But if I have to sit on them for 10 hours…" Ben teased.

"Okay, now I'm kind of curious to hear them. See, what did I tell you about my mistakes? At least I figured out this one before next month!"

Ben managed to keep his best stories under wraps, but he did give her some good ones as they went through Ramset Park. Leslie got off a few of her own at the other parks- and thankfully, no one from the press noticed them until near the end of their tour. But they had their built in excuse of taking the day off to relax, and even plugged Leslie's devotion to the parks while they were at it. Although it was supposed to be a day free of politics, Leslie was in no position to pass up a free plug.

At the least, it gave them something else to joke about when they went to J.J.'s for lunch. Of course, Ben had to do most of the talking there, since Leslie was chowing down on her usual batch of breakfast waffles. Somehow, Ben managed to eat a bit himself, when he wasn't watching the spectacle of Leslie eating, and remembering how he hadn't done that in some time. Leslie even gave him the tiny scraps of crust that she couldn't finish- but Ben figured she probably could finish them, and was making this gesture part of her apology.

It also gave Leslie leverage to ask Ben to go to the snow globe museum that afternoon. She was still banned from coming back there, but Ben could go in and take pictures, so she could see what new exhibits they had. She even brought a camera and a walkie talkie, yet Ben convinced her that he only needed the camera. There were a few speed bumps when one of the workers remembered his last visit and how he kept touching the globes, but he convinced him he'd be on his best behavior this time. And he was, as soon as he figured out how to make Leslie's camera stop flashing.

All told, it took almost an hour to get all of the pictures, and then well over an hour for Leslie to stop analyzing them all outside. This left them with only enough time to see a few of their other favorite hangouts before dinner. But they fit in as much as they could- and it didn't escape them that this was the first time in months they could openly visit these places together. After all this time, it was an unfamiliar feeling, but far from an unwelcome one.

In any case, the news of their day off probably hit Perd Hadley's "Ya Heard?" noon edition, so their bases were covered with the town- at least those that watched his show. Leslie rationalized that those who didn't probably wouldn't suspect anything, or wouldn't all be at their hangouts. Some of them would likely be at dinner, but hopefully the food was good enough, or the prices were high or low enough, to give them other things to think about. Given that they probably wouldn't have waffles or whipped cream for dinner, Leslie mainly hoped the price distracted them.

Yet the two headed to dinner without too many other cares. They even had a laugh at the location, since it was the same place where Leslie had Chris and a pimped out Ann go on their first date. But that was the first time Leslie and Ben were in an actual restaurant together, even if they didn't arrive together. So that made it a more fitting place to eat at tonight.

Any awkward memories were erased when Ben finally told his best personal stories from the campaign, and from the last month. But he made sure to leave out the most memorable part, i.e. that night April had to talk him down. For her part, Leslie had a lot more lively stories she was saving for dinner- but she made sure to leave out her memorable parts, i.e. the moments she wished Ben were there.

"I did miss this," Ben blurted out after Leslie finished impersonating the snobs at her last fundraiser. With that, Leslie claimed up in her regular voice and her other ones as well. This sounded like a serious statement, and she didn't know how serious she was prepared to be tonight.

"Come on, I'm sure you got by fine without my Newport impressions," Leslie quipped, to see just how serious Ben was going to get.

"I did survive that, but I'm talking about….the other stuff. We haven't had a day like this since we started secret dating, where we had nothing to worry about at all. We just focused on having fun….I missed when we could do that. I mean, it's still sad that I can't be more intimate with my girlfriend. But the thing I missed more….was having a regular, fun day out with my best friend."

Ben did his best to look away from Leslie, in an attempt to hide whatever embarrassed blush he had at the moment. It did make him miss the large blush on Leslie's face, however, but he knew if he saw that, his resolve might break. "Listen to me….Tom, Ron and Dexhart would probably revoke my manhood if they heard me say that," Ben joked, in his own attempt to make things less serious.

"First of all, Tom thinks you're a nerd, not a girl. Second, Ron hates hearing stuff like that, so he's not going to talk about it. And third, and this is something I learned from experience….no one should give a quarter of a craplog what Dexhart says."

Ben now made an effort to look at Leslie, now that they weren't blushing anymore. "You're not giving him a quarter, right, Ben? Is that what happens when I leave you alone for three weeks, buddy?"

"You would know, I suppose," Ben said jokingly, although there wasn't much room to make that statement into a joke. Ben caught that almost instantly- but only almost. "Wait a minute, I-"

"I know Ben, I know," Leslie admitted. "Like I said, I know from personal experience….and the polls clued me in too. I know I haven't done well since that interview, and I'm pretty sure I know why. You're still giving me ideas, but they lose something in translation when Adam's bouncing them off me. I guess I need someone to brainstorm with that has a better voice….and a better face around it."

"Huh, nice to hear what you really think of Adam's face," Ben responded.

"It's not his fault, he just has tough competition," Leslie went on, before she got back to the matter at hand. "Look, I still have time to win this thing, but only if you're my right-hand man again. It's pretty obvious that I can't do it without you, so it makes sense."

"What if Dexhart remembers….my secret duties as your right-hand man?" Ben couldn't help but ask.

"I wish that had an obvious answer. I'm still willing to think that he just forgot about it, or he would have spilled by now. But if he does, we can think of something if we have our old routine again. I think it's worth a try, and worth a bunch of other things….don't you?"

"I've thought that from the start, you know that. I guess you haven't known in the last few weeks, but I'll start making up for it at headquarters tomorrow." Now that this was settled, Ben was starting to feel a bit more daring. "I can even show you before work….or even at your house after dinner."

Although Leslie was proud of herself for the steps she took today, she wasn't quite that proud. "No, I think I'll get the message just fine at work. Not that I don't want to get it at home, but if you say it there, it'll be harder to keep that message between us. We did fine keeping it to ourselves before that interview, so let's just go back to what works, okay?"

Even now, Leslie was still digging herself into holes. Yet now she could at least be faster in climbing out of them. "That doesn't mean you're not the best man who's ever….given me that kind of message. In fact, it'd come through so loud and clear that I'd be too giddy to keep it to myself. That's why it's so hard not to hear it….but I promise I still want to hear it again someday."

As usual, talking in metaphors probably made it harder for Ben to hear that message loud and clear. Yet considering the subject matter, Leslie figured that enough of it got through. And judging by Ben's smile, it had. "Well….I did just admit I liked talking more than….that other message. So who am I to complain about what I just got back?"

"You can tell me at work tomorrow if you don't figure it out now," Leslie promised. "But let's not talk about work now, cause we'll be talking about it non-stop for the next few months. So I think it can wait for the next hour or so."

And it did wait for that hour- or rather, 72 minutes, since that's how long it was until Leslie closed her front door and said her last goodnights to Ben. They successfully avoided having a good-night kiss in minute 71, so they counted that as a final victory of sorts. It was a hard one, especially after the day they'd had- but it was only one day, after all.

The rest of the days for the foreseeable future would be like the ones before the _Pawnee Today _incident. The two would be united at headquarters again, brainstorming with each other, and being the driving force of the Leslie Knope campaign. Whether that gave it a much needed boot or not, it would at least make their personal and professional days go a lot easier.

And once again, that would be enough to help them ignore how much better it could have been. As long as there were no other nasty surprises.


	13. The Leak

After Leslie and Ben had their day off, the impact on the election was quite predictable. The two came back rejuvenated and united, ready to give the campaign new life again. With another few blitzes across town, some notable public appearances, successful fund raisers, and Leslie's usual brand of inventiveness, Dexhart's lead got smaller by the week.

A few staffers and pundits wondered how this happened after both Leslie and Ben took a day off. But fortunately, they figured that they just need a small break to get back on track, and didn't suspect any other reason. In any case, the staffers weren't going to argue now that things were getting tighter.

By the middle of October, Dexhart was still ahead, but with less of a margin for error. This made their one and only debate even more important, as Dexhart needed to prove he still had what it took to win, and Leslie had to prove she could really go the distance. Whoever won this debate would have all the momentum they needed for the last few weeks, and Leslie still needed every bit of it. That's why Michael, Greg and Barnes scheduled their biggest fundraiser to date at the end of the debate, hoping that a victory would then raise enough to put them over the top.

With that kind of a big night ahead, Leslie and Ben crammed for it as much as possible. But they made sure to hold their one-on-one debate sessions at campaign headquarters, and kept the windows open if they were in an office. Despite the thrill of working closely again, they made sure more than ever that no one would suspect anything between them. By the time they mastered their new system, they almost completely forgot that Dexhart had ever suspected anything- especially since _he_ seemed to forget.

As such, on the morning of the debate, Ben drove to work in a relaxed mood- as relaxed as anyone can be at such an early hour, and on such a big day. After his final preparations with Leslie the previous night, he was trying to stay awake and calm and not show any nerves. To that end, his cell phone was turned off, and he was hoping for an easy day of work at City Hall before he headed to campaign headquarters at lunch. He barely lingered on his assistant city manager work anymore anyway, so he hoped he wouldn't have to change that now.

Once he walked towards City Hall, he saw a crowd of reporters ready to meet him. It had taken a while, but Ben had learned to handle them and tune them out, and to speak actual sentences to them if he had to. But it was a little early to deal with them now, so he politely tried to get through them, and tossed a few "no comments" their way.

Since he was ignoring them, he didn't hear that much of their actual questions. For a second, he thought he heard something about the Pawnee Sun, Leslie, and an alleged affair, but he brushed that off to early morning grogginess.

Yet when a few people gave him some odd and questioning looks inside City Hall, he started wondering what exactly he had tuned out.

But when he got inside Chris's office, he got his answer once he overheard him on the phone.

"Yes, I want my denial of a Leslie Knope-Ben Wyatt affair on the record! I am not firing them, and I am confident that your paper's report will be proven false! I will literally stake my career over it, good sir! Have the most sensational day possible."

Once Chris hung up, he finally noticed a slack-jawed Ben standing near his desk. "There you are! I left eight messages on your cell phone, why didn't you answer at least three of them?"

"Chris….what exactly did you do?" Ben gasped out, hoping against hope that he could blame this on his big mouth.

"I did exactly what you said! I waited until a newspaper lied about you and Leslie to deny it! I'm sorry if I was too furious to censor myself," Chris stated, as he held up today's Pawnee Sun.

The front page featured a photo that was taken near Leslie's house, and featured them saying good night at the end of their day off. They weren't kissing or doing anything else scandalous, and they weren't close enough to suggest anything dirty. But it was being used as part of a story that alleged they were having an affair.

It was really happening. After weeks of being on edge and then forgetting about it, it had finally been leaked now.

Why now? After Dexhart did absolutely nothing for this long, why would he do this now? But there it was. He was clearly behind the 'anonymous sources' in this so-called expose, and clearly had one of his people take that picture. Now he would let the Pawnee Sun and the rest of the press take it from there, and discredit Leslie so close to the election and the debate-

That was it. The man who wasn't what Leslie called "smart" had pulled off a waiting game for the ages.

He could afford to wait until now, since he still had the lead and still had experience, lots of money, and the press in his pocket. He had deliberately waited until now, the night of the debate that would help decide the election- the night that would make or break Leslie- to destroy her like this. Even though he didn't make these allegations right after the interview, he knew to do it when it would do a lot more damage. When it would throw her off before the biggest night of the campaign, and when there was too little time left before Election Day to make a comeback.

And when she would probably be too scared to let Ben help her anyway.

"I need to see Leslie right now…." Ben trailed off before he started to head away from Chris. But he didn't get away before Chris spoke up again.

"Wait, I just remembered those people from the campaign called too! You must have been ignoring their cell phone calls eight times too! But they said they really needed to see you right now."

Although Ben knew he had to see Leslie, he realized that he needed to clear things up with the staff too. If they actually believed Dexhart, or were too afraid of what these rumors would do, they might insist that he distance himself from Leslie or the campaign. Either option was completely unacceptable.

When he couldn't work closely with Leslie, he might have given away everything if not for April. But at least he was still able to work in the same building with her. If he was actually kept away from the campaign, and actually had time to himself until Election Day, he would wind up screwing everything else up for sure. That just could not happen.

In any case, Leslie probably was too paranoid to talk to him now. If he gave Ann or Ron or even April time to settle her down, she would probably be more willing to see him later. And if he could get things straightened out with the staff, at least he'd have good news for her then.

"Okay….if you see Leslie, tell her it's gonna be fine and that I'll see her when she's ready." But something else then stopped Ben before he could leave the office. "Um, if it's okay for me to do campaign business before lunch."

"Of course it is, Ben. You do what you have to, and I'll keep defending you to reporters. I gave you two my word that I'd have your bare backs, and that's what I'm going to do."

At that moment, Ben apologized in his mind for every time he cursed Chris out, or wished him some comical harm, over the last several months. Since the guilt almost made him blurt it out loud, he finally got out of the office while he still could.

Ben made sure not to look back on his way out of City Hall, just in case he was still tempted to check on Leslie. He used that focus to get past reporters again, although it was a little harder now that he heard what they were asking him. Yet he kept repeating "no comment" every several seconds before he finally made it to campaign headquarters.

Once he got to the office, he found everyone seemingly waiting for him. Michael, Greg and Barnes had even made their way there, standing together with Adam.

"It's all a lie," Ben started off the bat. "Dexhart's making this up to screw us before the debate."

"We know," Michael answered. "It is a really obvious and stupid ploy. But we can't ignore what it could do to us."

"Even if Leslie does well at the debate and the fundraiser, this thing could overshadow all of it and cost us the big gain we need," Adam noted. "So we're going to have to distance ourselves from it, and keep the focus on what matters."

Ben was hardly reassured by that kind of language, and Barnes then confirmed his fears. "To that end, we'll need you to keep your distance from Leslie and the campaign for a while. If we spin this right, we can make this go away in a week or so. But that'll be harder if the press sees you with her or us. You know how this sort of thing goes."

"I do….but, but won't the hiding make it worse somehow?" Ben tried to reason. "And you guys need me to get us over the top! I'm her right-hand man!"

"That can be interpreted differently now," Adam commented. "You've been more of a campaign manager to her than I have, or anyone else here. We don't see that in a sleazy way, but others would….and we can't tempt them to think it further."

That was pretty much Leslie's logic in keeping them separated last time- but this stood to be a lot more damaging. "Please guys….I can't be away from this campaign. Trust me, things will go a lot smoother if I'm here."

"Ben, please, we know how valuable you've been," Greg assured. "But that isn't worth the risk if this gets any bigger."

"I'm telling you….I have to be in this campaign anyway," Ben pressed on.

"And you'll be back soon, if you let us do our jobs!" Adam insisted. "I know you want this to be your redemption for the boy mayor stuff, but that can't let you endanger Leslie! You need to put her above your own ambition."

"I've done nothing else but that," Ben reminded him, while trying to keep his voice down. "That's why we've gotten so close. If I can't help her….I'm afraid she won't finish this thing." That may have sounded egotistical, but that was a better defense than the other ones he could have used.

"You have to trust that we know what we're doing," Barnes said. "You don't make or break this campaign, although you're pretty close. But how can you help her get over the top in a way that we couldn't? If we keep you close through all this, what can you do that you haven't done already?"

So that was what it was going to take. Something that would give Leslie and the campaign such a boost that they absolutely couldn't cut him off. And there was one ideal place to do it at. "You know what….I think I can answer that by the time the fundraiser starts. But don't tell Leslie what you told me until then."

"We ran this by you first because we hoped you'd help us break it to her," Adam confessed. "So we're not going to say anything. Not for now."

"Just tell her I'm working, and I'll see her at the debate." Ben had no time to lose, so he ran off then and there instead of making himself clearer. He didn't even know what he was going to put together, but he needed all the time he could get to think. He also needed Tom and Jean-Ralphio to remember what they did with Entertainment 720's equipment after its spectacular downfall.

While the staff didn't know what to make of this, Adam at least knew enough to text Leslie that Ben was working, and go no further. As Leslie received that message in Ann's office, it was the first bit of relief she felt all day. She couldn't even work in her office because of all the phone calls she was getting, and she didn't want to face any co-workers but Ann, even though Ron , April and Andy already knew. But after hearing Tom's jokes and questions, she almost wished that he had begged for his job back after Entertainment 720's implosion a week later.

But hearing that Ben was working filled her with something other than dread, which was a change of pace today. "This is good, Ann. At least Ben is okay and he's working, now he'll be able to forget that his career is ruined. That's more than I can do."

"It's not ruined, Leslie," Ann said for what seemed like that 100'th time, although it was just the third. "They'll see that Dexhart's just making this up to hurt you at the debate."

"Joan won't, and neither will Perd Hapley or the others, and that'll be enough!" Leslie insisted. "I knew that day off would make Dexhart remember, but I was too caught up with Ben! I should have kept him away when I had the chance!"

To her credit, Leslie realized the folly in that statement fairly quickly, by her standards. "Oh God, I didn't mean that, I mean…..see, it's happening again! I just keep saying stupid things when the worst happens lately! God, I can't even imagine what paranoid stuff Ben is saying right now!"

"Actually, I don't know if he is saying paranoid stuff," Ann tentatively started.

"Why, what have you heard?" Leslie asked. "If no one's saying that he's going into Cindy Eckhart stories again, that'd be a huge break!"

"I didn't see him or hear anything. I just think that he's not panicking as much as you are." At that, Ann made sure to speak extra carefully. "I'm sure he's not happy about this….but I get the sense it's more for your sake than his."

"But he's gonna lose his job and his whole future if this gets worse! Why wouldn't he worry about his sake?" Leslie wondered.

"I know that means a lot to him….but maybe you mean more. Maybe if he lost his job, it wouldn't bother him as long as he got to be with you openly. Maybe that means more than the bad stuff to him," Ann guessed.

"Well then, he's crazy! He can't be happy that he's losing everything because of me, and he can't want to lose it for me either! That's just…..that's just stupid, shameful and wrong!"

"Okay….I'm going to assume that's your panicked side talking. If that's really what _you_ think, then I really don't know what to say to you," Ann blurted out before she could censor herself.

"What's that mean?" Leslie asked before she could censor herself. "You know, I still have every right to be panicked here! I could lose the election and my job and have nothing, you know! This thing is so screwed up that we never could come forward without losing everything….you know?"

"Yes, there was a time!" Ann responded, now done trying to censor herself. "I know you would have seen that if you weren't so scared! If you weren't, you could have told Chris and got away with it before it got this far!"

"Huh? All my sides are confused about that one," Leslie replied. So Ann regrouped to explain as clearly as she could.

"Look Leslie, you're normally not scared of anything. No matter how impossible or hard something is, you always face it full on and you know it'll turn out okay. But you've kept backing down from this thing at every turn. Hell, you had to be dragged kicking and screaming to just be with him in the first place! Otherwise, you'd have realized then that you were in love with him and wanted to risk everything for him!"

"Love?" Leslie interrupted, before Ann let her stammer for a bit.

"Uh huh, you love him," Ann finally went on. "If you don't know that even now, then I can't sugarcoat it anymore. But I know you loved him even months ago. If you weren't so scared about your job, you would have seen that, and not let Chris's stupid rule hold you back. That's what the real Leslie Knope would have done."

"The real Leslie Knope would have figured out she was in love after Indianapolis, and not wanted to contain it in a bubble. She would have went to Chris head on and told him his rule was unfair. And if she was fired, the real Leslie Knope wouldn't have freaked out. That's because she knew that every single member of the Parks Department would have walked out with her if she and Ben were fired. And if they didn't, her best friend would have dragged them out by the ears and mustache. Then they'd get everyone else in town that loved her to protest too, and once they did, this whole town would have been shut down until Chris gave in!"

"Shut down Pawnee? Leslie wouldn't do that!" Leslie argued.

"It wouldn't be up to her, because Pawnee loves her enough to fight for her, like she fights for it. If she remembered that back then, she'd know that even if she was fired, she'd just be back at work in a few days! Even Chris would have to compromise by then! And even if that meant Ben couldn't be city manager anymore, Leslie would realize that Ben wouldn't mind if he got to be with her, and it was okay for him to think that way. Then she would have run for City Council with nothing to worry about, and with so much momentum that Dexhart would have conceded by now! All because you faced everything you were afraid of before then."

It took a lot to make Leslie Knope speechless, but Ann had done the impossible, for at least a minute. "How come you didn't say that much about Leslie months ago?" Leslie finally asked- which made Ann a bit speechless.

"Okay….maybe I don't think of this stuff as quick as you do," Ann conceded. "But I know if you were your old self, you would have thought of it! Part of me still thinks if you came clean now, you'd still be okay! Don't worry, I know it's too risky now….I guess I'm just saying it didn't have to be that way."

"But I still think it kinda did," Leslie said quietly. "How do you know Chris would compromise that quickly…..or that Ben really doesn't care about his career that much?"

"How did you know that a Harvest Festival would save a dead parks department?" Ann countered. "You just knew, no matter what everyone else said. You always say to go big or go home, and you've gone big on everything…..except for this. That's why this is so out of character for you! I just don't get why this is the only thing you've ever gone home on! Or why it's the only thing you've never trusted to turn out well in the end! And I don't really think you know, either."

"I have a few good ideas why, you know that."

"They don't have to be great ones! It's okay to want him as much as your career, if not more! You can have that kind of faith in him, and in you two being together! He's not Mark, you know! But you don't want to lead him on like you think Mark led you on, do you?" Ann got concerned when Leslie had no response. "Do you?"

Leslie wasn't ignoring her, she just didn't know what to say. Ann didn't quite know how to take that, since it was such a rare thing.

"I should go and review my debate notes. For debating….." Leslie finally muttered to try and end the conversation. Ann decided to keep quiet and let her go, since this was already bordering on their second fight, and their first sober one. But Ann hoped Leslie saw it as just a half-fight, or at least a best friend intervention.

Leslie thought a lot of things, yet they were all bunched together and didn't give her a clear picture. But the cloud of thoughts helped her ignore the phone calls, get a little work done, and go over debate notes she'd already reviewed 30 times. When April "accidentally" spilled coffee on Tom's lap after his latest Leslie-Ben sex question, Leslie didn't even give one of her personal-space violating hugs.

She was still a bit out of it once she arrived at town hall for the debate, and even when she had her final run through with Adam and the staff. Once she realized that Ben wasn't with them, the fog started to lift, as she tried to figure out where he could be- and how she should feel about it. But this wasn't the time to get into those thoughts- and she didn't know how to feel about that either.

Finally, with a few minutes to spare before show time, she peeked at the crowd and saw that Ben was just arriving. He looked exhausted, but he still made his way to his seat without losing a step. Leslie backed off a bit before he could notice her, and before she'd have to figure out what to do if he did.

There were so little things she actually had control over. No matter what she did or didn't do, it would have consequences, guilt, fear and potential disaster that she couldn't stop. Despite her skill at trying to control things and work everything out, this was one thing she could no longer control or have an easy answer for. In that moment, Leslie almost wished for simpler days when running for office, and getting so close to a man, was still just a pipe dream.

But it wasn't, and now both dreams were on the brink of destruction with one wrong move- and it was virtually impossible to find the right one. No matter how easy Ann tried to frame it.

Yet once Leslie peeked from backstage again, she found the latest scapegoat for why that was. On the other side of the stage, Dexhart could be seen getting ready.

No matter how much guilt or fear or shame Leslie ultimately bore for this mess, there was no denying that Dexhart bore much more blame. Leslie's mistakes were unintentional- at least consciously- yet Dexhart deliberately tried to destroy her today, and would try to finish her off tonight.

That was at least one thing that Leslie could control.

She still had no idea what to do about Ben, the press, the rumors, and her own tangled emotions. But if she was going to get out of this, she had to take a small step first. And the best possible first step was to make sure Dexhart didn't get away with this. Nothing Leslie did or didn't do was bad enough to let that man win this debate, or stay in office period.

As such, Leslie did what she had done for months. Brush aside the tough, serious questions about her love life and what she really wanted from it, and focus on the political task at hand- at least for one more night.

But since that task was to verbally kill Dexhart in this debate, it would be well worth it.


	14. Leslie Vs Dexhart

On popular request, and as part of the retraction for yesterday's cover story, the Pawnee Sun presents this transcript of the opening minutes of last night's City Council debate between Councilman Dexhart and Deputy Director Knope.

_Perd Hapley- This is reporter turned moderator Perd Hapley wishing good evening, and welcome to tonight's City Council debate. Ya heard all about these two candidates in the last few months, but now you get to see them face off one last time before next month's election. Please welcome Councilman William Dexhart and Parks Deputy Director Leslie Knope!_

_[applause from crowd as Councilman Dexhart and Deputy Director Knope take the stage]_

_Perd Hapley- Okay, judging by that extremely brief handshake, I'd say our candidates are ready to go!_

_Councilman Dexhart- We are, Perd. But first I feel we should address the elephant in the room. We all know by now that Deputy Director Knope has faced some ugly rumors today, yet she still managed to come here and have it out with me. That kind of commitment deserves applause and recognition- if not your vote._

_[applause from crowd]_

_Councilman Dexhart- I know she'd rather get right down to real business, so let's get this out of this way now. I hereby yield time for Deputy Director Knope to confirm or deny today's rumors, so that we don't have to talk about them again tonight. She's said throughout the campaign that she wants to be honest and scandal free…..so go ahead and tell the truth about this and we can move on._

_Deputy Director Knope- The truth? So it's just the truth you want, then?_

_Councilman Dexhart- Yes, it is the main reason why you're supposed to be a better candidate, right? So set the record straight and then we can get serious again._

_Deputy Director Knope- Well, then, if that's the case…..you're right, there are more serious things we should talk about. Like the future of Pawnee, who should lead her, and why one of its leaders would rather use rumors than his own record to beat me. But with a record like his, I guess it's understandable._

_Councilman Dexhart- I'm the one trying to let you explain these rumors, Ms. Knope. I didn't start them, and you're not confirming or denying them._

_Deputy Director Knope- I didn't say you started them, but now that you said it first…._

_Perd Hapley- Okay then, maybe it's time to get to the first actual question. Question one comes-_

_Councilman Dexhart- Wait a minute, hold on. You're the one who allegedly slept with your boss, even after you kept attacking my past! It goes to the heart of what I've said all along….the voters can't be so desperate to get rid of me that they elect someone exactly like me! That's not the real change you've promised, Ms Knope._

_Deputy Director Knope- Well, if you're that outraged about it, why didn't you do anything when you said we were 'screwing' at Pawnee Today?_

_Councilman Dexhart- So you admit you screwed before or after that interview?_

_Deputy Director Knope- I admit you said we were, even though you saw us do nothing but high five. If you cared so much about me being like you, you should have told voters then and there! So why did the Pawnee Sun have to break the story today, when you had these concerns months ago? Did it slip your mind, or were you just waiting until today to come clean so you could destroy my campaign?_

_Councilman Dexhart- I never said or did anything like that, so stop avoiding the issue!_

_Deputy Director Knope- So you deny you accused us of having an affair after that interview?_

_Councilman Dexhart- Yes! Now where's your denial, Ms Knope?_

_Deputy Director Knope- Actually, there is something I shouldn't hide anymore. We kept what you said a secret as well…..and we made our boss, Chris Trager, keep it as well. We told him what you said right after the interview, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea if you told the press. This is one of the most honest men in Pawnee….a man who made sure I can't have a secret affair or else I'll lose my job! And all of Pawnee knows how much I love my job! So if this honest man says that we told him about your accusations, and he will, that would make your denial a few seconds ago look like a lie. What reason would he have to lie about it and cover us for us, especially if we were breaking his rules? And if you lied about accusing us, then I have to ask again….why didn't you say anything before, and why did it come out before the debate that'll decide your re-election?_

_[audience murmers]_

_Deputy Director Knope- The fact is you deliberately sat on these rumors so you could ruin me tonight. And you planted that story in the Pawnee Sun and used an innocent picture from our day off to slander us! It's just another typical Dexhart lie, like the one when he said I was having an affair with him! How much longer will we have to excuse dirty tricks like that, Councilman?_

_[audience applause]_

_Perd Hapley- All right then, now for our regularly scheduled first question-_

_Councilman Dexhart- Not now, Hapley! Regardless of what I knew and when I knew it, you're still guilty of the same things I was, Ms Knope! If you love Pawnee so much, you'll tell it the truth, or you'll have to lie and break your promise to be an honest candidate! Either way, you're no better than me after all._

_Deputy Director Knope- And what evidence do you have for that? Did you see us actually 'screw' or kiss or do anything romantic?_

_Councilman Dexhart- That picture and your 'day off' speaks for itself! I know for a fact you never take days off, and neither does your boyfriend. Yet you two conveniently take off for the first time in ages, in the middle of a campaign, just to satisfy your urges? How are we supposed to assume anything else, Ms Knope?_

_[audience applause]_

_Deputy Director Knope- I'm sure you can, I mean you do have an active imagination. Were we kissing in that picture? No. Were we kissing before you accused us of being together after that interview? No we weren't. Did your spies see us say or do anything dirty during our day off, or on any other day you spied on us? I'm certain you didn't._

_Councilman Dexhart- So what if they didn't, the point is-_

_Deputy Director Knope- So you admit they did try, then? Good to know._

_Councilman Dexhart- Wait a minute, they, I- I'm not the one on trial for lying here this time, you are! That's the story here!_

_Deputy Director Knope- No, the story is that you have no real evidence to back up these charges, and you're trying to make it up. You're making it up to ruin me because you know I'm gaining on you, and if this was an actual debate on the real issues Pawnee cares about, I'd be gaining even more! That's why you're distracting everyone with scandals that have no proof- and unless you have real, actual evidence, which you don't, I'm not going to say anything else about it. Because Pawnee is smart enough not to decide elections on mere rumors, and I'm smart enough to not let it distract me either._

_Councilman Dexhart- This coming from the woman who let Lil' Sebastian get lost during his last Harvest Festival. Our most beloved citizen would probably still be alive today if it wasn't for that! You were probably too busy covering up how you slept your way to the top there too._

_Deputy Director Knope- Hey, it was 10 percent Jerry's fault he got lost! It's less than the 100 percent we thought at first, but still!_

_[audience murmurs, Assistant City Manager Wyatt nearly gets up before being helped back into his seat by beautiful brunette]_

_Perd Hapley- I really think we should move on now. This is a political debate, not an argument._

_Councilman Dexhart- Which is exactly the kind of juvenile tactic that Leslie Knope promised to be above in this campaign! But as usual, she makes promises she can't deliver, like building a park near a nurse's house and that she isn't as horny as I am! Now for the last time, I ask Ms Knope to stop being two-faced and start telling the truth, for the sake of what's left of her reputation!_

_[audience applause over some scattered boos]_

_Deputy Director Knope- You want me to tell the truth? All right. But I want a good faith payment from you first, Councilman. First admit that you planted that story in the Pawnee Sun, sent people to spy and take pictures of us, and assumed we were having an affair based on no real evidence. Then I'll tell the whole truth about this._

_Councilman Dexhart- That's more like it! Yes, I did all of that, so there!_

_[audience gasps]_

_Councilman Dexhart- Wait a minute….._

_Deputy Director Knope- Thank you, Councilman. Now I can tell the whole truth….the whole truth is that dirty tricks like this have no place in Pawnee anymore._

_Councilman Dexhart- Hold on, you said you'd-_

_Deputy Director Knope- The whole truth is that I would never waste time like this just to ruin an opponent….no matter how tempting he makes it. The whole truth is that my focus, first and foremost, has and always will be on making Pawnee better. Tonight, the councilman reminded all of us that he doesn't think that way…..and I don't think all of Pawnee wants a man like that in office anymore. That's why he can spend all the time making us lies and evidence he wants, while I concentrate on what really matters….all of you. That's why I will have no more comments on this matter, and spend no more time worrying about his lies more than I worry about you! And now we can get on with the debate, back to you Perd!_

_[scattered but loud applause from a bit more than half the audience]_

_Councilman Dexhart- But you, you…..you still didn't answer the charges like you promised! That's entrapment, and that means you did it!_

_Deputy Director Knope- I said I have no more comments on the issue, Councilman. Now for the last time, I ask you to join me in this serious debate, for the sake of what's left of your career. Okay, Bill?_

_[audience applause]_

_Perd Hadley- Well…..all right, then. Now that I'm allowed to talk, let's get on with the first official question._

_Deputy Director Knope- Ready, Perd!_

_Councilman Dexhart- [inaudible cursing]_

_[end of transcript]_


	15. What Leslie Can Do

After the debate's first several minutes, there was no way the next hour would live up to it. Since everyone was still buzzing about Leslie and Dexhart's opening arguments, nothing they said afterwards would be remembered. To Leslie's credit, she kept on the offensive- and to Dexhart's credit, he kept his anger about the opening minutes in check until he was long gone from the stage.

Once the debate ended, Leslie was swarmed by her staff and their various raves, questions and criticisms. With that and the press attention, she had no room to see Ben or any of her other friends. But she tried to put that aside and answer everyone else, while sticking to her vow not to comment any more on her relationship with Ben.

That got a little harder by the time they reached the fundraiser, since their guests kept trying to find out more. It was harder to brush them off, since the campaign needed their support and money for the stretch drive, and they needed their concerns answered. Yet her display against Dexhart had impressed a lot of them, whether it fully answered their questions or not. A few guests had already pledged their donations, but Leslie still had a long night of smoozing ahead.

Despite being the clear winner in the debate, it was hardly enough to clinch the election. In fact, because she never answered if she was having a rule-breaking affair, there remained enough wiggle room for Dexhart to keep slandering her. Just because she wasn't going to answer the charges didn't mean Dexhart wouldn't keep making them. And now that there was a real chance he would lose, him and his various big money contributors would work overtime to attack Leslie now- if only to erase Dexhart's embarrassing performance from the headlines.

That made up the bulk of the criticism against Leslie, since some on her own staff wished she would at least deny the charges. Yet Leslie had to keep silent, for her own sake. If she admitted that it was true, she would be destroyed- but if she said it was false, she might not only lose Ben, she would actually be lying to Pawnee for the first time. She was technically lying every day she kept her relationship secret, but it was a lie of omission.

If she actually said out loud that she wasn't with Ben, it would be a full fledged lie to her people and to Pawnee. She couldn't live with having that lie on the record, and Dexhart knew that, which was why he pushed so hard to make her comment on it. As long as she made no comment, they couldn't say she was lying, and she wouldn't feel like a liar for the first time- at least until she got caught for real. But now that she changed the conversation somewhat, and overshadowed the rumors with her debating, she now had a shot to survive this, keep Ben, avoid lying out loud- and maybe even win.

Months ago, Leslie would have had no shot at denying everything if she was caught- as Ron vividly found out. Now she was experienced at it, and could even win a debate while she was at it. It was still unclear if she could win an election as well, yet now the odds were closer to 50/50 than ever before. However, a good performance at this fundraiser would go an even longer way.

Leslie didn't spot Ben anywhere in the crowd, although since he still seemed to be a member of her staff, he was probably here somewhere. But given everything that happened, they couldn't even have a talk in public without it being taken the wrong way now. So perhaps it was for the best that they weren't talking in front of all these potential contributors. But since she pledged not to let the rumors bother her, perhaps it would still be taken the wrong way if she didn't try to find him.

As Leslie wondered what the proper etiquette was for this situation, she didn't notice the staff setting up a video presentation nearby. Finally, Michael and Greg managed to get the crowd's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a very eventful day," Michael started. "You have a lot to digest tonight about Leslie Knope, and whether she is the best choice for Pawnee's new future. And there's only so much we can do to convince you. So let's see if the people in this video can do a better job."

Ben then finally stepped forward to join the party leaders as they played the video- just as Ben himself appeared on the video screen.

"Hello, I'm Ben Wyatt," the on-screen Ben started. "18 years ago, I was a national laughingstock as boy-mayor of Partridge, Minnesota. I spent the next 17 years hating myself and giving countless small towns reason to hate me. Now I'm an assistant city manager who has found a real home for the first time in my adult life- and I can even talk about Ice Town without having my brain collapse. This is what Leslie Knope has done for me, and what she can do for you."

The screen then showed Ann, and her first words were nearly drowned out by Leslie's loud gasp from the audience. But since Leslie hadn't seen Ann since their semi-fight, it gave Ann more than enough time to take part in this video behind her back.

"Hello, I'm Ann Perkins. Two years ago I had a giant pit next to my house, and I had no interest in government. Now I work part time at City Hall, and no one breaks their leg at Lot 48 anymore- and maybe there'll even be a park there before the next decade ends! That is what Leslie Knope has done for me, and what she can do for you."

The screen then showed Ron, whose voice was powerful enough to drown out Leslie's gasps. Since Leslie was so distracted today, and since Ron always went out of his way to make sure no one paid attention to him, he was able to sneak away during the afternoon without any trouble.

"Hello, I'm Ron Swanson. I am one of the few things standing between Pawnee and a big government apocalypse. But if I fail, I'll take some comfort if Leslie Knope is the engineer of my defeat. I hate everything she represents, but I give her a stronger endorsement than any gun, knife or mustache waxer I've ever had. That's what Leslie Knope has done for me, and so I give her full permission to destroy the real America- but only her. End of endorsement."

The screen then showed Tom, which let Leslie know just why it took him over an hour to find new pants after April spilled coffee on his lap.

"Hello, I'm Tom Haverford. You rich guys and gals would have invested in Entertainment 720 by now, if not for….certain mishaps. Those mishaps made it impossible for me to get another job, except one working for Leslie Knope. Now that I'm back in the parks department, I can hit you up for endorsements for Entertainment 1440 by the next fiscal year! That's what Leslie Knope has done for me, and that kinda work makes her too busy for her to get busy, so there!"

There was no way for Ben not to edit that last part out. But once April and Andy came on screen, he was more relieved that he was able to edit most of Andy's words.

"So we're April and Andy Dwyer and stuff," April started. "I hate people and he's a moron, but we're married because Leslie hired us. Life doesn't suck so much because of her, so go ahead and vote for her if you hate sucky things too."

"Yeah, vote for her and she'll get you married too!" Andy yelled. The audience would have seen him go on to defend Leslie against the Ben rumors- if Ben hadn't left it on the cutting room floor for obvious and embarrassing reasons. So the next thing on the final cut was Chris's testimonial instead.

"Hello, I'm City Manager Chris Traeger. I was a stranger to this town twice over, and Leslie Knope helped make Pawnee into my new home. And although things got complicated between me and her friend Ann Perkins, I have literally never worked with a more dedicated and amazing employee, other than my dear friend Ben Wyatt. That's why they will stay my employees no matter what anyone says, and why I look forward to working with Councilwoman Knope…..and eventually, Governor and Senator and President and Emperor Knope as well."

At last, Ben returned to the screen to tie it all together. "This is what Leslie Knope has done to change the most unlikely lives imaginable. Now please help her take the first step to changing the other 6 billion lives on Earth as well."

The requisite uplifting campaign music then played over a photo of Leslie, as the off-screen Ben began to speak. "We will try to edit this down to a regular campaign ad, and play it all over the airwaves up to election day. Hopefully it showed you that Leslie Knope can get any of your pet causes or measures or projects done in office….at least ones that meet her standards. But if she can rebuild an 'Ice Clown' like me, then anything is possible! So make your donations to her, me, Michael, Greg, Adam and any other staff member you find if you finally believe in Leslie!"

That last statement may have been too flowery for this crowd. But after Leslie's debate performance, that manipulative but effective ad, and the raised possibilities that she might really win, many of them were ready to pay up.

Leslie still wasn't able to get a word with Ben, due to her own shock over the ad, her confusion on how her friends snuck away to contribute, and meeting her new contributors. As for Ben, he was content to talk to donating guests, watch Leslie take her credit, and try to relax after such a hectic day.

It had taken a lot out of him just to figure out the content of the ad, find a location, track down Entertainment 720's old cameramen and editors, call everyone and find a good time for them to come by, get the video edited, and be back in time for the debate. It had also taken a lot for him not to snap Dexhart like a twig during the debate, but luckily Ann got him to sit down- and that Leslie had provided her own heroics anyway.

Ben had wanted busy, crazy days like this to distract him from his secret relationship problems- well, maybe not days like _this_. A day like this particular one could have meant the end of everything, yet everything was close to being saved. There was just one thing missing, and Adam came by to provide that as well.

"Well, we are convinced, Ben. You are worth the risk to keep you onboard after all." Ben was happy to hear this from Adam- even though he wasn't the person he most wanted to hear those words from. "This would have been a great ad even if you shot it under ideal circumstances."

"Yeah, I wonder why it took a media scandal and nearly getting fired to get this out of me," Ben quipped. "Maybe a few more of those things would help me put you guys over the top."

"You and I both don't want to test that. But we don't really need to. I had my reservations about you for various reasons, even before today. Yet the truth is….you are a natural at this, Ben. And we do need you now to finish this thing."

"Well….I _can_ give you good editors to edit the ad for TV ," Ben joked, in lue of sighing in utter relief.

While Ben kept talking to Adam, Leslie finally had time to look and think about him for more than a second. In spite of all that happened, he had put together….all that for her. While she was freaking out and paralyzed until the debate, he was putting together the definitive ad of the campaign, and even got the others involved. And it certainly made her relieved that Ann spoke out for her, in spite of their last conversation.

Now a very Ann-like voice in Leslie's head was telling her that now was the time to come forward. There would never be a better time than this to just admit the truth, be with Ben openly, and survive the backlash anyway. It would vindicate Dexhart, but it wouldn't be enough to balance out the dirty tricks he used to 'expose' them. It would upset her fans, yet she had just made so many new ones that it might balance out. It would prove that she had been hiding the truth from everyone, but she never outright said they weren't together, so it still wasn't a full lie. And if anything proved that they could be together and still do a great job without crossing any lines, it was their work today.

It would be so easy to finally take that leap- and after today, Ben probably deserved no less.

And yet, Leslie remained frozen in place.

No matter how much she was starting to tell herself she could come clean, the reasons for not doing so were still there. It could vindicate Dexhart enough to make people forgive his sleazy actions. It could cost Ben his two jobs, which would hardly be a way to thank him for what he'd been through. Not all of her followers might understand that she didn't outright lie- and if a few of them were her new contributors, it would be a disaster. And now that she was actually close to victory, it would be career suicide to endanger that by admitting to a scandal, under any circumstance or excuse.

Plus a new reason reared its head when Leslie saw Chris in the crowd. While Leslie didn't fully lie about her relationship, Chris had lied and then some without even knowing it. He had kept his word and promised everyone that Leslie and Ben weren't breaking his rule. Now that he had, he and his reputation would suffer if the truth ever came out, and then he would have no choice but to fire them. Not only had they lied to him, they had tricked him into lying for them- and now had no chance to escape what passed for his wrath if they were ever caught. They couldn't face that, or the guilt of what they had made Chris do for them.

So in the end, they were right back where they started. Still in a secret relationship that technically wasn't even a relationship at the moment, and with no way to ever come clean. That could not and would not change if Leslie had anything to say about it.

At least not at this moment.

A while later, Leslie finally found Ben all alone and stood next to him, both not knowing how to start. "Some day, huh?" was Ben's attempt to break the ice.

"Yeah. But the main message is that I have no comment about….today's big story, and I stand by it. And I'd advise my staff to do the same," Leslie stated- before making sure to say the next part quickly. "But I promise you, I'll do everything I can to think of the right comment after the election's over."

"What kind of comment would the right comment be? Do you know that yet?" Ben inquired curiously, and a bit nervously.

"I wish I knew. But the minute the results come in, you and I won't rest until we figure it out. I won't let this go without a comment forever, and I want us to make it together….somehow. Just not now, but soon. So, can we work together without commenting again?"

Leslie was somewhat afraid to look at Ben, for fear of whatever emotions this might bring up for him. She waited a few seconds, just in case the bad or disappointed ones were showing. But when she finally gazed at him, he looked the same- or had at least let the bad emotions run through him early.

"Yes….yes we can, Leslie."

"Hey, no plagiarizing other campaigns for your next ad ideas, Wyatt," Leslie commented to break any remaining tension.

"Don't worry, this campaign has enough scandals to ignore, Knope," Ben responded, as the tension finally really broke for the first time all day. The two laughed for the first time today and then jokingly shook hands in agreement- while ignoring how someone had taken a photo of it from their phone. How that might be used and what comments could be made from it would just have to be ignored until Election Day.

Leslie felt proud of herself, as their relationship had come out and they hadn't been ruined yet- as long as they didn't comment or lie or admit they had a relationship. With more nights like this, and less mornings and afternoons like the ones from today, they could really win and have it all.

But Leslie would have to actually block out those distractions- including the Ann voice in her head that said she had taken two steps forward, and one equally big step back in dealing with Ben. Although the real Ann had helped out with the ad, Leslie figured she shouldn't bring up any Ben stuff around her for the next few days.

Hopefully, the imaginary Ann that still said Leslie was still a coward- even after surviving the most difficult day of her career- would extend the same courtesy.


	16. The Results

Leslie and Ben had developed a time honored formula for this campaign. The day of the debate was just the latest example, as they were once more threatened by a crisis, eventually struggled past it, reconnected, kept their secret intact and then forged a big boost in the polls. That formula helped put Leslie right at Dexhart's doorsteps, and they were now counting on it to put them over the top after the debate.

Yet while Leslie was closer than ever before, Dexhart was still holding on in the final weeks. Given his experience at getting voters to forgive him for scandals, planting the Leslie-Ben story in the Pawnee Sun didn't cause too much damage. Once he got past that, he went back to accusing them of having an affair and lying to Pawnee, while they kept refusing to confirm or deny it.

While Dexhart used attack ads and support from the Newports and Sweetums for the stretch drive, Leslie kept making the rounds throughout Pawnee. She spent so much time meeting with citizens and holding rallies that she didn't have time to comment on Ben. What little spare time she had was used on actually doing her job at the Parks Department- and sparing Ron from talking to people for at least a few days a week.

Despite being linked together in public now, Leslie and Ben stuck to their routine and didn't have any non-work related public or private moments by themselves. In fact, Ben was even starting to do more brainstorming with Adam, and with Michael and Greg when they came by to visit. In spite of everything, they hadn't done a single new thing to arouse suspicion- other than not answer everyone else's suspicions.

That served as a handy excuse for why Leslie hadn't quite overtaken Dexhart yet. For all of the momentum she had and all the ground she made up throughout the campaign, there was still a chance it wouldn't be enough. After all, Leslie was a political rookie, and for all of Dexhart's sins, he did know how to win elections. Yet for the first time, he was in a race that was still down to the wire on Election Day.

That climactic night would have Leslie, Ben and their City Hall co-workers hold a gathering inside the Parks Department to view the results. The rest of the campaign staff would be at headquarters and call in with updates, and when it was all over, Leslie would go there to give her victory/concession speech. Yet when the results came in, she just wanted to share it with all her close friends, and lean on them whether she won or lost.

By the time election coverage started, Leslie had nearly recovered from her last round of campaigning- and from getting up at 5 a.m. to be first in line to vote. She was briefly tempted to nap on Ron's bench, since the race was close enough that the final results wouldn't come in right away. But she had gotten through just fine without sleep in this campaign- and for this night, for a night she had dreamed of since she was a little girl, there was no way she would risk sleeping through it.

None of those dreams involved the twists and turns she'd lived through in these last several months, however. And the source of many of those twists was coming into Ron's office right now.

"So, you think that vote for yourself will hold up yet?" Ben quipped?

"Well, I gave myself a 1-0 lead over him this morning. You don't come back from a gap like that, right?" Leslie asked.

"It's probably rarer than we think, I'm sure. But no matter what history says, I've got a feeling that tonight's going to be a good night."

"A good, good night indeed, sir!" Leslie exclaimed.

"Whatever you say, Miss Fergie."

"Who?"

Ben would have clued her in on what they were actually referencing- if only to kill some more time in between updates. But then his cell phone rang, and he quickly answered once he saw the call was from Adam.

"Yes? Uh huh….yes, we're about to tune in right now. Yes, we're ready for Perd to update the results, too." With that, Leslie shot back up and she rushed back out towards the television, beating Ben there by a good three seconds. By the time she got there, Perd Hapley was ready to give his first update on the race.

"Well, if ya haven't heard, the race between Councilman Bill Dexhart and Parks Deputy Director Leslie Knope has been a spirited one! I couldn't help but heard it at their debate, and Pawnee is still arguing about it! In fact, as of now, the results are too close to call! After being down for this entire campaign, Leslie Knope has pulled into a statistical tie, and there's still a long night of counting to go!"

He didn't say that Leslie had won, so she and the gang didn't cheer that loud- especially since they would clearly have to save their energy on this long night. But finally drawing even with Dexhart after all this time was the best sign possible. If they had actually tied him, then it would seem all too cruel for Leslie to lose now.

Leslie repeated that in her head for the next nerve wracking hour, as Perd said twice more that it was still too close to call. But the others kept her busy during the waiting, and made sure she stayed near her steady supply of dinner waffles. Yet after Perd said it was still too close for the third time, Leslie was more encouraged. After all, the longer she was that close, the more likely it was that she'd finally get over the top by the end.

Since those positive thoughts were helping her stay calm, she stuck with those for the moment. While Ben was still keeping in touch with Adam, Leslie found herself standing next to April, who was calling Andy from the campaign headquarters party. After she told Andy that Mouse Rat couldn't play "Sex Hair" for a fourth time and hung up, Leslie felt free to share her confidence with her.

"Ah, don't be so hard on them, April. If things keep going like this, you'll only make them play that song three times at my swearing-in party! It's starting to look like every problem and setback from this whole thing was worth it after all. Just worth every tear Dexhart might cry tonight!"

But Leslie only got to imagine Dexhart's river of tears for five seconds before April spoke. "So, can Ben quit his job when you get to City Council?"

Despite all of her training to tune out Ben-related questions, that one took her aback- if only because she had let her guard down. "What? What, uh….just what?"

"If you leave here for City Council, can Ben quit his job for you then?"

"I, um….what again?"

"He told me he was gonna quit his job right before those campaign guys visited you. He even wanted to do it before you gave him that day off and stuff, cause he hated how his job wouldn't let you be together. But now that you're not gonna work here anymore, will you let him quit for you like he wanted?"

Now Leslie had lost the capacity to even say "What?" in her shock.

"Because if he does, he probably couldn't pay our bills for a while. He'd be miserable and stuff if he stayed and kept your secret, but I don't wanna use my iPod money for bills again. So keep that in mind, okay?"

Considering how April had just scrambled Leslie's mind, that was easier said than done.

The mere fact that April knew about them, and seemed to have talked to Ben about them, wasn't even the most troublesome thing- which really said something. She wanted to brush it off as April playing a prank, since there was no way that Ben would ever want to leave his job, for any reason.

There was no way he wanted to do it on the night of Lil' Sebastian's funeral, before William and the others came to start all this. There was no way he wanted to do it right before they had their day off together. There was no way he hated his job just because he couldn't be with her in the open. There was just no way….

But what if there was? What if April wasn't just making this up to keep her iPod money? Why would she even be concerned about using iPod money for bills if Ben didn't want to quit? And if Leslie won….what would become of April's iPod money then?

No….she couldn't think about this now. She vowed she wouldn't until the election was over. But in just an hour or two, it would be over. Yet she did still have another hour or two.

"After tonight, after tonight, after tonight….." Leslie kept muttering to herself, to remind herself when she was actually going to deal with this. She certainly couldn't go over to Ben and ask about it. Not when he was looking so happy and confident tonight, and had been all day. Whatever he may or may not have felt about his City Hall job, his campaign work was making him so happy now, and he deserved nothing less. She couldn't think about how that might be because it was a job that actually let him near her…..if not in the way he might have wanted.

But those troubling thoughts had to be put aside until tomorrow- even if tomorrow was a matter of moments away. Even if that old nagging Ann voice was making a comeback and saying she didn't have to put it off this long in the first place, and would soon pay the price for it. Yet Leslie's regular inner voices reminded her of why it was necessary and why it would soon be worth it- albeit without the zeal they had before the campaign started.

Still, they had to be right. They just had to be.

"Well, it looks like the Dexhart-Knope race is gonna have a winner by midnight after all!"

That wasn't one of her voices…..unless one of them was doing a Perd impression.

One glance at Perd on the television told her that it wasn't.

"We're now ready to declare that Councilman Bill Dexhart will keep his seat over Leslie Knope after all!"

Maybe one of her voices had managed to drown Perd's real words out and play a sadistic joke on Leslie. That had to be it.

"A late surge from some Dexhart-friendly parts of town has put the Councilman over the top, by just a few hundred votes! However, as close as the results are, they're not quite close enough to trigger an automatic recount. So although this was the closest race that Councilman Dexhart's ever been in by far, it will end the same as the others, with a victory. As for Leslie Knope, she'll have to stay in the parks department, working under her controversial boss Ben Wyatt, for at least two more years."

Perd went on for a few more moments, but no one heard him. It's not as if they weren't able to hear him, since his voice was pretty much the only sound in the office. Other than that, it was as if no one was even there at all.

Even Ann didn't have any words of comfort. Even Ben didn't even make a shocked stammer. Even Tom and Donna didn't have a quip or one-liner on hand. Even Ron and April's usual silence wasn't out of place. Even Chris didn't have a smile on his face. And even Leslie looked positively lifeless.

Of course, Jerry had to break up the mood by opening his mouth, which was unwelcome at the best of times. But even he came close to asking a worthwhile question.

"Wait, is that it?"


	17. Is That It?

One minute after Perd Hapley declared that Leslie had lost, she got a hold of Adam. Five minutes afterwards, they got a hold of Michael and Greg to see if they could challenge the results. 10 minutes later, they were each told that Dexhart's margin of victory was safe, and that it really wasn't close enough to warrant a recount. And there weren't enough uncounted ballots out there- at least in Leslie-friendly areas- that could make it much closer.

After accepting Michael, Greg and Adam's apologies, Leslie silently made her way into her office. While everyone else was still hanging around in the department, they knew better than to come in and bother her now. They weren't used to seeing her sit around quietly to herself- but they hadn't been used to her losing in quite some time either.

So Leslie just sat at her desk in silence, still trying to let what happened sink in. It was quite a task, all things considered. It wasn't so much that she lost, although that played quite a part. Part of it was this uncomfortable sense of finality as well.

It was actually all over. The campaign she had dreamed of her entire life, and lived out for months, was over….and it ended so…..anticlimactically.

For once, words from Jerry rang in her head that both repelled her as usual, yet made her think this time.

"_Wait, is that it?"_

Is that really it?

Did she go through all that madness just for…..this?

A defeat to an evil scumbag pervert who used dirty tricks and won anyway? A loss to the worst possible evil scumbag pervert of all? She went through hell for this election, only to lose to that?

This was not the dream ending she had envisioned for her dream campaign. But she then tried to tell herself that it was a dream campaign until this moment.

At least she _tried _to tell herself that.

But for all that she had done in this election, all the people she met, all the rallies she made, and how she came so close…..none of it made her feel any less empty.

And before she even asked herself why that is, she had a feeling she knew the answer- and had tried to hide it from herself from the beginning.

But for the first time since the election started, she had actual free time to let herself figure it out.

It wasn't the dream campaign she always wanted- and it was never going to be.

It wasn't going to be the second that Ben was reduced to a mere campaign worker.

Now that she had free time to let herself really think about things, she could let herself know how inadequate that really was.

Ben did everything for her as a campaign worker and quasi-manager- but aside from that one off day, they weren't really working together. A mere professional relationship, no matter how helpful it was, just wasn't good enough. She missed talking to Ben and sharing stories with him on a non-work related level. She missed being able to unwind with him after rough days.

She missed being relaxed around him period- but she hadn't truly been relaxed around him since the second she found out about Chris's rule. And as much as she tried to disguise it and bury it under campaign work, it was only now that she realized it wasn't enough.

Leslie then tried to tell herself she was only feeling this way because she lost, and it would have been worth it if she won. Just as she pretty much told April hours ago- and look what that revealed.

Look what that revealed about how miserable Ben really was in trying to keep their secret- a secret he never really wanted to keep. Yet despite all that, he saved the campaign so many times, and put his whole heart into it. And she couldn't keep up her end of the bargain by winning.

But she put her whole heart into it too. She went above and beyond despite all their problems as well, she knew that.

Yet she didn't really put her whole self into it, and maybe he couldn't either. They spent so much time trying to stay strictly professional, and do absolutely nothing else together, that a part of themselves was obviously lost. If they were allowed to be there for each other…..really, truly be there for each other….then maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe without that hanging over their heads, they could have found a way to get those last few hundred votes.

But they couldn't, and they didn't.

At that, Leslie's usual defenses kicked into high gear. She knew darn well why it had to hang over their heads. If they were actually found out, she never would have been allowed to run for office, and even if she did, she still would have lost. She then would have lost her job and really had nothing after this defeat. And she certainly would have lost by an even bigger margin if they admitted they were together.

But even when they refused to admit it or confess, she still lost.

She hid everything to keep her job and win this election…..and it still wasn't enough.

So what the heck was it really all for?

Did she keep Ben in the closet just to suffer a closer defeat to Dexhart? Did she keep him at arm's length outside of work just to wind up right back where she started- still at a job that kept her from being with him? And even if she won, wouldn't she have traded one job that kept Ben from her for another?

This was why Leslie couldn't let herself think of these things earlier. All it was doing was making her feel guilty for something she had every right to do. She could have just dumped Ben altogether and she didn't, so she should get credit for that. She wasn't technically wrong to do anything she did!

But she wasn't right either.

None of it was right. It just….it was just one unpleasant series of decisions after another. No matter what, it wasn't enough.

Was there any possible scenario that could have been enough? Did Leslie even really try to find one? Was there one that was out there….but that Leslie was too scared to try?

Ann seemed to suggest a few of them, but they were unrealistic….right?

Right?

"Leslie?"

That question wasn't asked by any of her inner voices, but from Ben. Leslie was both relieved and nervous to see that, and to see him coming into the office. As such, she really didn't have any words for him. Whatever words she did have were all crowded together in her throat, unable to break free and come out.

So it was up to Ben to break the silence- and break it he did.

"Look, I know this…..isn't what you wanted to have happen. After everything that's happened before tonight, how could you? But you still have every reason to be proud of yourself."

After all the guilt Leslie was starting to sink into, that seemed less plausible. But she'd give Ben a shot to try and have it make sense- what else could she do? What else could she have done….

"No one outside of this room and campaign headquarters thought you'd get this close. But you did. You gave Dexhart the biggest challenge of his career, even more than all those blackmailing mistresses of his! You pushed a long time Councilman and the most slippery scumbag in town to the absolute brink, and he was damn lucky to win! Everyone has to know that and be impressed…..and they'll remember it and help us crush Dexhart next time."

"Next time?" Leslie finally coughed out. "You want to do this again next time?"

"Of course. We didn't get everything we wanted this time, so we have to try again in two years. And we'll keep trying until we get it right."

Try again in two years….keep trying until they get it right…how could he say that? After everything he went through…..after everything she helped put him through…..he was really ready to go through it again? Even the parts where they had to keep hiding their relationship, have no comment on anything, and avoid each other in private for months on end? That would be no less necessary to do in two years than it had been now, and he still…..

Maybe he was still up for it- or at least found it easier to lie and say he was.

But the mere thought of having to do all that again in two years was Leslie's long awaited tipping point.

Why did she even put herself through it this time? Why couldn't she have just come clean to Chris and Pawnee from the start as Ann suggested? Why was she so scared to lose her job, when she had already risked it all countless times before- even against Ben at first? Why couldn't she bring herself to defend her feelings in front of Chris, the media and the entire town- just as she had defended Lot 48, the Parks Department, the Harvest Festival, and even a freaking gazebo so many times before?

She never backed down in defending those things and didn't care what it cost her. And yet when it came to Ben, she backed down and cowered time and time again, even before the election.

And that's when it truly hit her. For the first time in her life, Leslie Knope had backed down from a fight. And she had done so dozens and dozens of times in the last several months. And now this loss to Dexhart was her paying the price for it.

And she deserved it.

Dexhart didn't deserve to win no matter what. But neither did Leslie either. City Council members and anyone in a higher office have to stand tall, overcome obstacles, and defend themselves and everything they cared for against any challenge. So how could Leslie perform in a job like that when she just kept backing down on this issue?

If she wasn't willing to go to the full mat for someone like Ben, then how could she be expected to do that for Pawnee in City Council?

She wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility yet, she knew that now. Yet she let herself run anyway and look where it got her. Look where it got Ben. Look how it made him ready to quit a job he loved, just so he could find a way out of this mess. Look how supremely unwilling she was to do anything truly hard or risky to keep him. And look where it had ended up now.

For all of these epiphanies that had hit Leslie, it had only happened in a span of a few seconds in the real world. So Ben only had that much time to process Leslie's silence, before she put her head down and put her hands on each side of her head. Although it partially hid the saddened look on her face, her body language gave the rest away.

Leslie couldn't see Ben's reaction- and was pretty much trying not to see anything, so that she could focus on fighting off tears. But she did feel Ben put his hand on her back in comfort- and then pull it back a second later.

Clearly, he didn't know the correct protocol on how to deal with this. He was still trying not to get too close to her, as per their rules. But she could still feel that his hand was still hovering over her back, uncertain of whether to back away or go forward.

Even though Ben obviously wanted to truly comfort her and try to make her feel better- despite not knowing why she was really upset- things were so screwed up that he didn't know if it was okay. That was how far Leslie had let things spiral out of control. And with that she let out a sniffle, even though her tears still hadn't escaped yet.

"Ugh….what have I done?" Leslie somehow muttered to herself.

"Should I go get Ann?" she heard Ben ask. "Yeah….yeah, I'm gonna go get Ann."

But she didn't want Ann. For the first time in two years, she didn't want to turn to Ann first. She didn't want Ann, or Ron, or April- or anything or anyone else.

For the first time ever, there was finally nothing else that she wanted more than…..

Than the man who was probably getting ready to leave at the moment. But there was no way she was going to let him go now. Not again.

At that point, just as Ben turned from Leslie and was about to go get Ann, he heard a quick string of words. He couldn't make them out right away, since they were said so rapidly. Yet there was no denying what they sounded like.

They sounded like the phrase "I love you."

Needless to say, that made Ben all but fall back into his seat, as he turned to see that Leslie was staring straight ahead at him now. Staring with as much focus as he did during all those times he had swooned over her in the last year.

"I'm, I'm sorry?" Ben asked, hoping to hear a confirmation that he had heard right.

"No, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." With that, Leslie put her hand on top of his. "But I still love you anyway."

And that was it. The weight of over half a year of tension, fear and hiding had been lifted just like that. It was just that easy- just from three little words. Leslie had gone through all of this and tarnished a dream campaign just from refusing to say or believe three little, true words.

When she looked at it from that absurd perspective, she had to laugh.

And that was just what she started to do- quietly at first, and then increasingly louder with each second. This was merely the latest thing to take Ben aback, and for a second, he let himself think she was laughing because her last statement was a joke. But when he put that fearful notion aside, he let himself savor Leslie's laughing- and by instinct, he was soon laughing along with her.

As they laughed together, Leslie realized that it was a moment unlike any other in her life. It was the first moment where she truly had it all.

She kept telling herself that she still had it all by keeping Ben around during the campaign. She kept telling herself that so that she wouldn't have to choose between them. Yet now she knew she had already chosen long ago. She chose her career with every rule she made to keep Ben stuck in the closet, and with every chance she didn't take with him. She chose her career every single time she kept him a secret, and by never even considering fighting for him in public. With every half-measure, every refusal to come clean, and every time she cowered from the risk of a real and open relationship, she made sure she would never have it all.

But in this open moment- the first they really had since the minute they found out about Chris's rules- Leslie Knope finally felt complete.

That was the most un-feminist thought she had ever had, and she would normally have scolded herself for it- especially since she was scolding herself for everything else. Yet it was true. Without Ben- without all of Ben- she wasn't all of herself either.

She did so much at the Parks Department by herself, yet it wasn't until Ben arrived that she became powerful and capable enough to have her own campaign. And even though she came so close to beating Dexhart, if she had more of Ben around than just his work side, she would have won easily. Leslie was still a woman that could do it all- but having Ben around to provide that last little bump made such a difference.

Now that she had stopped denying it, it made so many things better. Even with her loss and all the maddening things she went through, she still had him. Even with all she put him and herself through, he still wanted her. Even his desire to leave his job for her didn't sound as wrong and reckless through that perspective. And what's more, not only did she still have Ben, she still had the best job of all time at the Parks Department to fall back on for the next two years, until she crushed Dexhart in the rematch.

That inspired her to have one more big laugh before she and Ben finally quieted down. Afterwards, she spoke more volumes just by laying her hand on top of his.

"Wow…." Ben muttered to himself. Yet Leslie knew that Ben wasn't saying that because she was a good hand-holder. He was saying "Wow" because he was that blown away from hearing that she loved him.

Of course he would be, after all she did to convince him otherwise. And after all she did to prove that she didn't care for him as much as a job, a gazebo, a festival, a campaign, and so many other things she went to the mat for as publicly as possible. All this time, she thought that the mere act of keeping him around instead of outright dumping him showed enough devotion. But it so clearly hadn't.

Not when there were other options she didn't take. Options that she was so convinced would cost her everything- despite all those times she beat even longer odds before. Ann tried to remind her of that before the debate, yet even then she wouldn't listen. If she had, she would have admitted Dexhart was right, convinced everyone that Ben was not a scandal and nothing to be ashamed about, and not stopped saying so until everyone believed it.

She might have lost even then- but it wasn't like going the other way had helped her win. And at the least, they wouldn't have had to make Chris lie for them. Speaking of which….

Leslie broke her gaze from Ben and saw that Chris was actually coming to the office. At any other time, him coming so soon after a romantic moment would make her hyperventilate inside.

"Well, there you go," Ben said as he saw Chris come by. But Leslie gripped his hand tighter before it could pull away. In any case, Chris didn't seem to notice as he made his way in.

"Leslie, I'm so glad that Ben made you laugh again. Now I feel more comfortable coming in and telling you how sorry I am. If there's anything you could possibly want, I won't rest until it's yours."

"You can shut the door, please," Leslie requested, in the most serious voice she'd ever used in her life. But that was fitting, since now that he shut the door, the rest of her life would hinge on these next few minutes.

"Chris, there's something I've wanted to tell you for months. I just didn't let myself realize it until now."

"Wait a minute….Leslie, you don't-" Leslie didn't expect that kind of reaction from Ben. But she couldn't let him pretend to be afraid for her sake anymore. "It's okay, I've got this," she assured before she got up on her feet. For something like this, she should say it in an upright position.

"We need to talk about my secret relationship with Ben."

"I know, those terrible rumors are the only reason you could have lost. I'm sorry I didn't deny them enough…so what if I would have ran nine instead of 10 miles a day? It sounds so lazy, I know, but still!"

"We shouldn't have made you deny them, because they were all true. Dexhart had no idea they were really true, but they were. We've been seeing each other since the trip to Indianapolis, and we wanted to see each other long before that. We tried not to because of your unfair rule, and that's why we did it in secret. We had to keep it secret for the campaign too, so that's why we told you so early that it wasn't true. But….keeping it quiet just isn't an option anymore."

After savoring how she actually said all this out loud, Leslie took note of how Chris's jaw had pretty much dropped- and how Ben's was actually falling a bit as well. But she still had on a free, open, vintage Leslie smile for what felt like the first time in ages.

"So, what now?"


	18. The Final Obstacle

"I….I am literally overwhelmed," Chris gasped out as the force of Leslie's confession hit him. "You….you really broke my rule for this long? And you….you knew you were breaking it even when you told me you weren't?"

"We had a good idea by then, yeah," Leslie confirmed.

"So you made me _lie _to the media? To all of my friends in government? To _everyone?_" Although Chris didn't really yell that loudly, the mere fact that he had yelled and shown any anger made both Leslie and Ben jump up in shock. "This…..this is just unforgivable! I'm sorry to use such nasty language, but you've partially earned it!"

"I guess that means we're both fired then, right?" Leslie inquired.

"I…..I just don't see any way around it, Leslie. I've already lost my honor and integrity by lying….the only way to get it back is to fire you both."

Just as Ben was about to respond, Ann knocked on the office door and opened it before anyone could answer. "Leslie, I need you to, um…." But before Ann could even finish, Leslie knew what she was trying to do.

"You don't have to make up excuses to come here and see what's going on. I already told him and got fired," Leslie informed Ann.

"Oh, well now that that's out of the way, I can start threatening Chris and get Pawnee shut down for you."

"Thanks Ann, but I'm about to get that covered, okay?" Leslie assured as she tried to get Ann out of the office.

"But I've been waiting for you to do this for months, I've got a lot of good threats and protests planned!" Ann insisted.

"I kinda figured that, but I need to make the threats and protests on my own. After all this, I think I _really _need to."

Ann couldn't argue that much about it, so she took her leave. But once Leslie's back was turned, she left the office door open just a bit so that she and the others could hear what happened next. Despite now officially having an audience that could hear them, Leslie, Ben and Chris picked right up where they left off.

"Why are _you _the one that gets to make threats and protests, you're the one who lied to me and this whole town!" Chris reminded Leslie. "How…..how could you let it get this far?"

"Because of you. Well, because of Dexhart near the end, but you were the big bad guy to start off," Leslie argued.

"Me? But, but my rule was supposed to stop sleazy affairs from messing up government! How does that make you not the bad guy?"

"Because it wasn't sleazy, no matter how many times you made me think it was!" Leslie shot back. "And if I wasn't so afraid of you, we'd have taken care of this months ago and I wouldn't have had to make you lie! So a lot of that's on you, Traeger!"

"Leslie…." Ben started before getting cut off.

"I know, me being afraid of him is a laugh, I know you knew that way before me!" Leslie then let her anger subside a bit, as she looked more resolute. "You know what? Now that we're finally being honest, we might as well go all the way. He might as well know every single stupid thing he made us do even before we made him lie!"

So with that, Leslie put on a one-woman reenactment of everything that had happened in the last several months. It started off from the second Ben nervously turned down Leslie's dinner offer, and went on to include every single embarrassing, romantic, unsneaky moment after that. Of course, she wasn't only confessing everything to Chris, but to the audience of co-workers that was now watching and listening to the show as well.

As she vividly told Chris every detail, both he and the rest of the Parks staff were on the edge of their seats. Ann already knew most of the details and had seen Leslie reenact them before, but it was always a sight to see again. Tom audibly gasped at many of the twists, yet kicked Jerry out when he started talking over the story as well. April had called Andy up so he could hear it too, yet hung up on him twice when he couldn't follow the plot and asked too many questions. Of course, Ron mostly stayed in his office and didn't want to hear it- especially since he had accidentally overheard Leslie and Ben once before- but even he came out once in a while to try and discreetly hear updates.

After a half hour or so, Leslie finally came to the end of the whole story. With that, she finally took a breath even though she was only mildly out of it. In fact, she was breathing more than Chris was at the moment- and even Ben was stunned himself, given that Leslie hadn't opened up this much to him since the campaign started. Yet when it was over, she capped it all off with a laugh.

"See, when you say it all like that, it's funny! It wasn't funny to live through, and it'd be torture to watch since we kept screwing up. Since I kept screwing up, mostly. I shouldn't have, because I've almost lost my job a bunch of times before, and it never scared me until now. I made Ben the only thing I was never willing to fight for openly in my life until now. I was that convinced that there was no way I'd work in government again if I did…..but I had a way all along."

Leslie gestured outside of the office, although she didn't turn around to see how everyone was watching them. "If I came out from the start, the whole Parks Department would have gotten themselves fired with me until I came back. I didn't think that would be enough…..but I've got more than the Parks Department on my side now. Almost half of Pawnee came out to vote for me tonight, and they almost beat Dexhart's army of lunatics! But even those lunatics keep forgiving him over and over and voting for him…..so who's to say my lunatics wouldn't either?"

"I got the feeling that if I told them exactly what I just told you, they'd understand. In fact, I'm sure all those fans waiting for my concession speech at campaign headquarters would understand. Having a bunch of great friends protest to get your job back is one thing….but just imagine having the best half of Pawnee with them. They weren't enough to beat Dexhart, but I'm ready to bet they can handle you."

"Once they forgive me for lying, they'll be ready to run your rules out of town in no time! And even if they don't and I stay fired…..well, at least they'll get Dexhart off the front pages for a few days. I guess we'll find out once I get over there."

Yet before Leslie could finally turn around, Ben had the window of opportunity to speak for the first time. "That's quite an offer, Leslie. More than I dreamed of in all my various dreams. But I think there's still time for another approach….and now that I finally have the chance to present it…."

With that, Ben got up and turned to face Chris as he put his hand in his pocket. "Chris, there's something I've wanted to give you for months, maybe even a whole year. I just didn't have the chance until now."

For the first time since Chris came in, Leslie was filled with dread all over again. Before tonight, she wouldn't have been able to guess what Ben was hinting at, yet she was quite aware of it now- and knew exactly what was on the piece of paper Ben had pulled out.

"What's this?" Chris asked since he didn't have Leslie's inside info.

"My letter of resignation."

Ben could only let himself pause for a split second before he had to interrupt both Leslie and Chris. "Hear me out! I need _both _of you to hear me out." This helped drown out the gasps from their co-workers and Tom calling out "Aw, twist!"

"Oh God, April was right. I did make you hate your job…." Leslie trailed off.

"April? When did you….." Before he inquired further, Ben decided to shake it off before he got too sidetracked. "Well, I should thank her for keeping quiet this long."

"Don't worry, she kept quiet about you throwing your career away until tonight," Leslie blurted out before she caught herself. She had just been swept away about how Ben wanted to give it all up for her a half hour ago. Yet now that he was actually doing it, she had no idea what to really think or do, other than try to stop it.

"I figured you'd say that. I was hoping you'd get to say it months ago when I quit after the funeral, but Barnes got to you first. But he actually might have done me a favor."

"He did? Then why are you still quitting?"

"I'll get to that in a minute. He did me a favor because if I quit then, I'd have had nowhere to go. It wouldn't have mattered to you if I quit so we could go public, because I wouldn't have another job to fall back on, and you never would have thought another job was good enough for me. No matter how much I insisted that you meant more to me, and that I'd be happy working anywhere else if it meant I'd have you, you wouldn't have bought it. But now…..now I think I've found something new that'll save everything."

"All right….let's hear it," Leslie conceded, fighting very hard to keep an open mind.

"I've been talking with Adam, Michael and Greg over the last few weeks. Ever since Adam raved about my ad, it got me thinking. I've all but ran your campaign in the last few months, and it almost worked…..and it did much more than make up for Ice Town. I always wanted to get back into office again, yet it was even better helping you almost get there. That's the best kind of job satisfaction I've had in a long time, even before this job kept us apart."

"So as soon as I resign, I'm going to accept Michael and Greg's offer to be a campaign staffer for the party. It's the best stepping stone for me to run my own campaign someday…..hopefully your next campaign in two years."

"What? But, but you don't need to work for them to do that! I can give you that job right now!" Leslie offered.

"I'm not ready yet. I learned a lot from this election, but it was my first one in almost 20 years. I still have a lot to learn, and I'm not going to run anything, least of all _your_ campaign, until I'm 100 percent qualified."

Leslie now knew the consequences of jumping into an election before being fully ready herself. So that line of reasoning got her to lower her defenses quite a bit as Ben went on.

"So my plan is to learn under Adam for a while, and help Barnes and his people find candidates just like they found you. If I feel like I'm ready by next year, I'll accept your offer and lead the way in crushing Dexhart next time. If I'm not ready, I'll just run your re-election campaign two years after that, or your run for Mayor or state Senator, or whatever your next office is."

That answered at least half of Leslie's concerns, but there was still a formidable half left to go. Yet Ben had that covered as well.

"As for the scandal, there won't be one if we do it right. I'll say that I'm resigning due to this new job offer, and not tell anyone about the other reason. Then we can gradually start to see each other in public again, and we can even go public in a few months! By then, it won't be a scandal to be together with my new job, and no one will remember all that election controversy! By then, Dexhart will be too busy celebrating his win or covering up his next scandal, so he won't be bothering us! And we can still say that we fell for each other after I resigned, since no one can still prove otherwise!"

"By the time you run again, we'll have been together in public long enough that Dexhart can't use us as a scandal. And by then, you'll have so much momentum that it won't matter anyway. Once we stay quiet for a few more months and I settle into my new job, there's no way this won't happen."

That took care of 25 more percent of Leslie's problems with this, but at least 15 of the remaining 25 percent reminded her of another issue. "But, but I thought you wanted to be in office yourself again someday. You can't do that if you're doing all this to get me in office!"

"Maybe I've shifted my priorities in the other direction…..just like they shifted when I met you. Besides, if I ever want to run again myself, I'll make a lot more connections being Councilwoman Knope's manager than being Pawnee's assistant one. Either way, I'll still be in government…..just not in a job where being with you can get us fired."

Ben walked closer to Leslie than he had dared to do since the night before her first campaign speech. "I was planning to tell you all this after you won…..and I kind of hoped you'd be too giddy from winning to object. But as sad as losing is, this actually works out better now. It'll be easier to come out slowly and quietly with you still in the Parks Department. It'll certainly be easier once I get out of here, that's for sure."

"And….and if I still didn't want you to go?" Leslie asked semi-hypothetically.

"I was really hoping you would. I was really hoping you'd understand how happy I'd be to finally get out, and how much you will never make me regret it. Now that I'll benefit both personally _and _professionally, it's an even easier call. Do you….think it's an easier call?"

Leslie still wanted to be selfless- or selfish, if there was even a difference anymore- and try to protect Ben from leaving. She had convinced herself for so long that he would never be happy settling for just her, or settling for anything else other than this work. Even though it was now clear she had forced him to settle for the job over her, it was still a lot of denial to fight through.

There were so many ways this shouldn't work and how they'd still get in trouble when they did come out…..yet he had laid out quite a case for the contrary. And since he was seemingly willing to wait a few more months, even after she was offering for them to come out now, it spoke volumes about his commitment. And about what Leslie's commitment should be.

"I refused to think of a way out for months…..and you came up with all this in a few weeks? And changed it around after I lost an hour ago?" Leslie questioned.

"I've had help in becoming a quick thinker."

With that, 98 percent of Leslie's reluctance was now gone. That 2 percent was still stubborn and wasn't happy that Ben was leaving City Hall, and that they wouldn't work together again for another year or so. But since so much of her was now willing to agree to something she didn't entirely approve of…..it was the surest sign that they were finally in a normal relationship.

"Then yes…..yes it's an easy call. God, it's about time something was finally easy around here!"

"Better very _very_ late than never," Ben exclaimed while breaking into a relieved smile. Leslie fully expected him to hug and kiss her in celebration, especially since they could now actually kiss in front of someone. Yet instead, Ben let himself get serious again. "I did think of almost everything…but there are a few obstacles left. And we can't solve them by ourselves."

With that, Ben let himself remember that Chris was still in the room and addressed him. "If this is going to work, we need a few things from you. First, to accept my resignation…..which probably won't be a problem now. Second, we need you to keep the unofficial reason why I'm resigning a secret. Third, I need you to keep our relationship a secret until we go public. And most importantly, I need you not to fire Leslie for any of this. If you don't do all of these things…..then I guess we have to go with Leslie's plan and take our dispute public tonight."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Chris asked, as Ben was slightly dismayed that he was taking it that way. "You made me a co-conspirator in your scandal, and you're asking me to knowingly lie for you now? And are you really threatening my career if I don't?"

"No, yes, and no," Ben replied in order.

"Well, I know you'll be putting your own new job in jeopardy if you do that. And you'd be challenging me over something I have every right to do!" Chris shot back, trying to sound tough.

"Yes, you have a right to fire us both and turn us down. Just like we have the right to protest against it and make it a big story for months. You don't have to have that kind of headache on your hands."

"But you'd still lose, Ben! I'm technically in the right, no matter what….extenuating circumstances there are!"

"And you'd be arguing that against a Leslie Knope who's ready to defend herself, and who isn't afraid of the consequences anymore. She almost beat a Pawnee institution in Dexhart when she _was_ scared of the consequences. Now that she's her old self again….is she someone you really want to take on in a fight like this? You know her…..and you know that's not a fight you can win anymore," Ben pointed out, as Leslie now tried to look tough as well.

"I am ready to fight now, Chris," Leslie backed up. "But I don't have to if you just go along with this. If you do, then no one will have to know that you lied for us and your reputation will be saved!"

"You think I care about that?" Chris asked. "You think my reputation is the reason I'm so….disappointed? Or surprisingly conflicted?"

After Leslie and Ben had spent so much time talking, they both decided to listen for a while as Chris explained himself. They hoped it would be an explanation worth shutting up for- since after all this time of Chris being the main obstacle of their relationship, he was now the only hope they had to get back together peacefully.

"I know you clearly don't think highly of me, especially with that...vivid story you told. But I never imposed this rule to make you this miserable. The fact that I put you through that much torture will haunt me for the next 106 years of my life. Yet you have to understand what you're asking of me. After making me lie without knowing it, you're asking me to lie, cover up a scandal, and knowingly violate my ethics. You're asking me to knowingly risk the integrity of a rule that is a decent one, no matter what you think of it! Because if the worst happens, you'll be setting a precedent for sleazy couples with…..less noble intentions than you to violate this rule, and compromise the best government I've ever been a part of!"

"A part of me wants to help you so badly….a bigger part than I expected before hearing your story and your moving sacrifices. But the part of me that embraces the rules, embraces being honest and doesn't want to be just another scandal-maker…..that part is still trying to stop me. And I like that honest part of myself…..even if compromising it wouldn't be for all the wrong reasons in this case. But no matter what the reasons are, going against my ethics, morals and beliefs about government is still too hard to do on purpose! I just can't…..please tell me you understand where I'm coming from, even though you despise me…."

"Actually Chris….I think we do understand," Ben said honestly. "But here's the thing. We realized almost too late that it wasn't worth it. Not enough of it, anyway. Since you _are_ still my friend, I don't want you to learn that the hard way and suffer for it either."

Ben hoped that it came across more as genuine advice and not as another threat. Yet if Chris took it that way, he wasn't saying so, as he stayed deep in thought for what seemed like the longest time. So Ben tried hard to study Chris's face and see which way he could be leaning. But since he had never seen Chris in this kind of situation before, it was hard to tell what he was doing.

Yet Leslie wasn't willing to study him for too long. "I guess he wants to suffer. All right, the speech it is, then!"

With that declaration, Leslie took Ben's hand and led him out of the office, and out of the Parks Department. They ignored all of the co-workers that had seen their show, although Chris couldn't avoid the harsh, telling glares from the group as easily.

In the meantime, Leslie was leading Ben down the halls, and intended to lead him all the way to campaign headquarters where they'd tell her supporters everything. But as Ben tried to keep up, he couldn't help but hear Leslie's deep, nervous breaths as she tried to steel herself for what was coming. Knowing what all of this meant for her- especially after the last half-hour- Ben figured he should try to still give her a way out.

"You don't have to do this just to make something up to me. We can still go back there and keep at him. To be honest, I think he was almost ready to crack."

"Almost isn't enough anymore. Not when I've already put this off way too long."

There was no talking Leslie out of keeping their secret before, and there would be no talking her out of revealing everything now. Even after Ben had the perfect plan to save them instead, this was what they were reduced to anyway thanks to stubborn Chris….

Ben's line of thinking was interrupted by a loud series of footsteps- the kind of footsteps he'd only heard from one person. Since that person could now be heard yelling "Wait!" it was an even greater clue to who it was.

Leslie and Ben turned to see Chris finishing what looked like his most intense run to date. Although it wasn't the longest distance he made up by far, he actually looked out of breath for the first time ever. He even had to take a few extra breaths before he started talking. "Do you _promise _that you can stay secret for a few more months?"

"Oh….well, we've done well so far against all odds. A few more months should be easy, if there's an actual end ahead," Ben assured.

"And are you _sure _that you can keep it from being a scandal when you go public? If Bill Dexhart or another unpleasant man makes it into one, I won't be able to help you….not in public anyway." That last little statement did more to give them hope than almost anything in months.

'We understand, and we're ready to handle anything," Ben promised.

"Then I guess there's only a few things left to do," Chris declared as he pulled out Ben's letter of resignation. "Ben Wyatt…..your resignation is accepted. Despite my lingering disappointment, every single candidate you get into office will have my vote, and my friendship, just as you still do."

Chris punctuated that with a hug, then turned to Leslie. "Leslie Knope, despite my lingering disappointment, tomorrow I will start my century-long mission to make up for the heartache and suffering I caused you." He capped that off with a hug as well, although like Ben, Leslie was too overwhelmed and a bit surprised to move. Yet Chris didn't notice as he slipped back into a more typical happy mood. "But tonight, you go and make half of Pawnee literally regret not electing you, okay?"

Leslie had no answer as Chris broke the hug and jogged off without slightly breaking a sweat this time. Ben didn't have an answer either, as they both just stood together without knowing what to do or how to react. This was an unprecedented scenario- one that they had both dreamed of but one that they almost didn't expect to happen.

After months of controversy, secrets, disappointment and triumph, it was finally over. The victory wouldn't be made official or public for a few more months, yet they had won. They had overcome every obstacle and gotten to stay together after all.

Of course, they couldn't jump up and down and celebrate, since they had to stay apart for a little while longer. There wasn't even time to savor Chris's concession, since Leslie had a concession speech of her own that she was late for. And their previous plan on what that speech would be about had to be scrapped.

As such, Ben finally broke the uneasy silence by asking "So….what are you going to tell them now?"

Leslie had no answer out loud, although Ben could tell she was already putting a new speech together in her mind as they walked to headquarters. After accepting the apologies of her staff, supporters and other miscellaneous guests, she was finally able to come on stage and start conceding.

The speech had the requisite thanks to everyone and assurances that this was still a dream come true- although that was actually her first semi-lie out loud to her people. It was a struggle for her not to make the speech entirely about Dexhart bashing, now that she remembered she lost to him again. But she limited herself to just one Dexhart bash every couple of paragraphs.

Yet since this was a concession speech and there were many better things to think about now, Leslie was trying to rush through it and get back to Ben. Back to a final few months of secret keeping and secret hookups before they could finally be a real couple. Although the end was now in sight, it was that much harder now that it was almost here and they could actually touch each other in secret again.

After all the lessons she had learned, having to stay quiet for a few more months was looking tougher. But this time, that was because part of her didn't want to keep her feelings bottled up anymore, not because she was obsessed with keeping them bottled.

Considering that, she couldn't go that much longer without making some kind of statement on the record. Especially since Ben was probably being blamed for her loss because she wouldn't go on the record about him. If she wasn't even brave enough to do that now….

"I know some of you might want to blame Ben Wyatt for tonight. You might wanna say that because I didn't talk about him and deny that I was illegally doing him, it was the only reason Dexhart won. And if Dexhart screws up more than ever, like we all know he will, you'll probably blame Ben even more. But the thing is, I wouldn't be able to lose if it wasn't for Ben…..wait, that came out a little wrong."

"What I mean is, all the stuff before my loss wouldn't be possible without Ben. Before he came here to shut me down, I was just a regular old can-do Parks director with a crazy dream. Because he challenged me and helped me figure out how to actually make those dreams happen, we gave you Harvest Festival and saved this town. We gave you a great farewell to Lil' Sebastian when it looked like we all couldn't go on. And because he helped me give you all that, he gave me a campaign and let me work with all of you. And when that gets me on the way to victory next time, it'll be because of him too."

"It's not Ben's fault I lost this time. It was my fault because I didn't fight on his behalf sooner, like he's done for me. He's my best friend and my work partner….and anyone who he works with in the future will be better for knowing him too. If that's not how you think of him after this campaign, then I really did lose…..but I'm sure that loss and all the others won't last for long. Not when I have all of you to erase history with me! So let's go on and forget about history together, as only Pawnee can!"

It took a couple of minutes for the cheering to subside, and several more minutes for Leslie to say goodbye to everyone in attendance before she went back stage. She looked back to see if anyone from the crowd was following her, but saw Ben making his way through instead.

So she went to the nearest door, made sure Ben saw her opening it, and found herself in a stairwell by herself for a few seconds. Once the door opened again, she made sure that Ben was the one who opened it- although it was startling that she could still double check with all her emotions.

But getting better at being sneaky had helped them avoid compromising positions for months. Positions like making out for the first time in ages inside a stairwell, in the same building where all of their campaign co-workers were in.

"You figured out that I love you too, right?" Ben said when he reluctantly felt like breathing again.

"Long before tonight, Benji…." Leslie responded with the little air she had left in her lungs. "Good, just so we're clear," Ben replied.

"You figured out how sorry I am for stringing you along, right Ben?"

"There's no sorry needed…..but I did figure out how you felt a few times tonight."

"Good, just so we're clear…."

And on that note, Leslie and Ben were done talking and waiting for each other.

But to their credit, they would avoid reprising the roles of sexy Sandra Day O'Connor and sexy David Souter until they got back to Leslie's house.

**There is still one last chapter left to be posted on Thursday, September 22- **_**Parks **_**Season 4 premiere day.**


	19. Inauguration Day

**This is indeed the final chapter- I started this story as a one-shot right after the Season 3 finale, and now it will finally end on the day of the Season 4 premiere. Kind of a happy accident, really- the first chapter one shot became a two-shot to include Leslie's perspective, and then 17 more chapters emerged over the next 18 weeks to make the offseason pass by.**

**But thanks to those who read and those select elite who reviewed along the way. Now comes the epilogue- hours before the actual Season 4 premiere makes every part of this entire story a massive fantasy. Yet considering all that we fear might go wrong for Leslie/Ben soon- as soon as tonight, in fact- this fantasy may seem more comforting compared to the real thing. At least hopefully just during the first half of the season.**

It was a slightly below average day of business in J.J.'s during this particular mid-January lunch hour. That was because many Pawnee citizens were glued to watching the inauguration ceremonies for all those who won November's elections, and J.J's TV was busted. But not every Pawnee political figure/citizen was being sidetracked by the events at City Hall.

Two of them were eating together at their specially designated table. Yet although they kept their lunch date and weren't going to watch the swearing-in, one of them was still reading a preview of it in the newspaper- and was a bit flustered while doing so.

"I'm sorry, I still don't care what barely 50 percent of Pawnee said. It should be you up there," Ben Wyatt insisted to his eating partner.

"It will be soon. Then Dexhart won't care what barely 50 percent said, or barely 60 percent. Or whatever barely would humiliate him more," Leslie Knope countered.

Ever since Dexhart won the right to be sworn in again, Leslie and Ben didn't take that many moments to look back. They were focused on reigniting their soon to be no longer secret relationship, and in helping Ben adjust to his new job as a party campaign staffer.

Despite his unease with lying, Chris actually took to it well. He pointed out that after Leslie's big speech about Ben on election night- and how she said future employers would be lucky to have him- it would look more suspicious if he immediately quit. So he let Ben stay on for two more weeks, and didn't officially announce his departure until the day before his going away party.

Before then, Ben actually got to focus on his regular work as Assistant City Manager again. For all the time he wanted to quit that job, it was easier to have fun with it without Leslie secrecy and elections hanging over him. So he at least got to leave on a high note, and could hang around Leslie as much as he wanted- as long as it was in areas the Parks staff scoped out first.

Yet now that the election was over, all of the gossip about Leslie and Ben did soon fade away. Dexhart was indeed too busy celebrating to care and make stuff up anymore, and put them completely out of his relieved mind. Of course, those with long memories still recalled how close Leslie came to an upset, and how it would probably make her the favorite going in next time.

Michael and Greg did offer Leslie the chance to run against someone else next time, now that she was capable of defeating more people. But Leslie stood firm in her wish that if she ran again, it would be against Dexhart. Kicking him out was the one piece of unfinished business left to do, and no one close to her doubted that it would be a total slaughter. Yet until then, Leslie could stay in the Parks Department- her first love- until she finally had to leave it behind in two years.

As for Ben, he found his place working with Michael, Greg, Adam, Barnes and the other party leaders, while he began brushing up on how to run a political campaign. If he stayed on track, he figured he might be ready to lead Leslie's next campaign on time after all. Of course, he still had to resolve whether he only wanted to lead Leslie's election efforts, or whether he wanted to branch out and direct other future campaigns. That might keep him from taking a job in Leslie's administration- yet he might be a bigger help by getting candidates elected who would further her agenda.

Those decisions were for another day, however. This one was about taking their minds off Dexhart's victory day by having a public lunch. They could do that now, since they were gradually spending more time together and fewer people noticed them.

They worked out a formula to spend less and less private time together before the campaign, and they had started doing it in reverse after it. Over two months, they spent more and more private time together and even gradually spaced out public time together as well. Now they were up to the point where they could almost spend the entire night at Leslie's house, and go out to dinner more than once or twice a week. With no elections, no media and no Chris hovering over them, they could enjoy themselves as a regular couple for the first time ever.

Still, since Leslie was a more famous figure now, there were some fans that came up to her to say they voted for her. Yet they didn't bring up her and Ben all the time, and if they did, Leslie could deflect past it without confirming or denying anything. In any case, enough time had gone by that soon, they wouldn't have to deny anything if they were asked anymore.

Soon they would be just like another boring, regular couple. Since nothing about the last year and a half suggested that it could have been possible, it was hard to know how to feel. Their relationship was forged and tested by chaos, and they were only now just getting to know each other without work or secrets or campaigns in the way.

For any other couple like that, having the pressure off might make their actual relationship boring and anticlimactic. But Ben and Leslie weren't like normal couples in any sense of the word.

Besides, most normal couples wouldn't have their lunch interrupted by one of their fans again, as was the case now.

"Are you Leslie Knope?" an approaching woman asked. "If you are, then I can't believe my luck! I voted for you as soon as I could, because you are an inspiration to all Pawnee women!"

"Aw, you're just saying that because Dexhart set the bar so low," Leslie jested, as she was learning to get used to post-campaign admirers lately.

"Only a little bit, that's the thing!" the fan went on. "I knew from the start you weren't with that Wyatt guy. Like you really needed to sleep with a man to do anything, or need anything from a man to fight for us! You kind of sounded like you did after you lost, but I bet that was just the heartbreak talking!"

Leslie would normally cheer right on with that statement, yet there were a few more shades of gray to that now. She looked ready to tell her just that until Ben piped up. "Well, this is a heartbreaking day today, but we're counting on supporters like you to fix that next time out. So please make sure you still have that passion in two years, okay?"

"I will, Wyatt guy! Knope is dope!" she called out as he headed back towards her booth.

"I never authorized that catchphrase, we're still checking with lawyers on that!" Leslie tried to remind her, then gave up and turned back to Ben. "What was with the supporters line? I was just about ready to defend you and say that I needed you. Aren't we ready to do that in public now?"

"We are….and seeing you ready to do that was all I needed. So I figured I should step in and take the load off….not that you needed a man to do that. Cause you're really not a dope and all."

"Thanks for remembering. It's one thing for my voters to forget it, but my boyfriend is….well, some other worse thing." It took her a few seconds to remember that she actually said "boyfriend" in a public place where people could have heard her, and known who she was referring to. The fact that it even took her a few seconds, rather than realizing it right away and going into a panic attack to cover it up…..

Before she continued on that increasingly pleasant train of thought, Ben checked his watch. "Great, I have to feel like a worse thing anyway and get going. Michael and Greg want to get the ball rolling for this November's special elections now. No time like today to get ready for that, right?"

"Ooh, I wish I could be there to see you guys plotting revenge. Ooh, but then I couldn't finish my updated manual for treating snowmen in parks. Why couldn't those kids destroy them that badly in the next snow storm? All that powdery collateral damage….."

"I'm sure our candidates can contain the damage next year if they get elected. Or they will after I remind them who helped them win. I don't want there to be _that_ much for you to clean up when you get there."

"Well, I didn't like big cleaning up projects until you helped with my house, so you've got a point," Leslie conceded.

"Will you be okay? Being here today instead of being there…..without me at work the rest of the day?" Ben made sure to ask.

"I'll admit that's something you didn't think of when you wanted to stop working with me. But I trust you'll make the perks outweigh all that for just a little while longer after work," Leslie hinted.

"I'll count down the minutes till I can, like always," Ben promised before finally getting up. "But I should count them down in my office now."

"Okay, you have fun with counting, like always," Leslie encouraged. At that point, without any of them even thinking about it, the two leaned in and pecked each other's lips. "Love ya, see ya, bye!" Leslie said cheerfully right afterwards.

"Bye, see you, love you then," Ben quipped back, as he headed off to return to his new day job- if only to kill time and to be able to afford his night time activities with Leslie.

Leslie watched him go and only brought herself to move a few seconds after he was gone. But as she started to sit back down, she noticed that she was in the line of sight of that devoted fan from earlier- who was gazing at her with shock from her booth.

Considering how the woman could clearly see Leslie and Ben from where she was sitting, and was gaping at her incredulously, it was safe to assume she saw their parting goodbye. Which means she saw their kiss, probably heard them say "Love ya" and was suitably stunned by it. And since a few others had either seen it too or had only noticed the woman's audible surprise, they knew the significance of what just happened as well.

For the first time, people outside of Leslie and Ben's circle of friends had seen them kiss and act like a couple, and would probably gossip and spread it around accordingly.

But once that became clear to her, Leslie Knope just nodded at her overwhelmed fan, sat back down, enjoyed the rest of her waffles- and groaned in joy at their brilliance, as usual- without giving the matter a second thought.

**THE END**


End file.
